Acid Mothers Temple and the Cosmic Inferno: Journey into the Cosmic Inferno and Pink Lady Lemonade -You're from Outer Space

They're back! The Cosmic Inferno is finally back! And just in time. Kawabata Makoto introduced the Cosmic Inferno in 2005 when he felt that The Melting Paradiso UFO was becoming stale. What followed were 2 brilliant albums (and 3 or 4 not quite brilliant but still pretty cool albums) from AMT and The Cosmic Inferno. Then when he reformed The Melting Paradiso UFO and released some spectactular albums with them in 2006 and 2007.

What's the difference between the two bands? It's really not as much as you'd think, but it's just enough to make the difference. As far as the live show, the only difference I've seen between the two bands is the bassist/singers. Not that this is unimportant. Kawabata Makoto relies heavily on both Tabata Mitsuru and Tsyuama Atushi as lead vocalists and collaborators.
The Melting Paradiso UFO features longtime collaborator Tsuyama Atushi while The Cosmic Inferno features Tabata Mitsuru on bass and vocals. The first incarnation of The Cosmic Inferno included two drummers, but one of them could not get a visa to the U.S. because of a criminal record "for drugs". So while on album, The Cosmic Inferno made good use of two drummers to add a lot of rythmic intensity and complexity, live, they were basically the same band with a different bassist.

But apparently the two drummers is an important part of The Cosmic Inferno. So when drummer Okano Futoshi left the Cosmic Inferno, he was replaced by Afrirampo's drummer, Pikachu. As a drummer, she doesn't quite keep up with Okano. On "Anthem of the Space" and "IAO Chant from the Cosmic Inferno" created rythms that were punishing in their intensity. Pikachu's percussion just seems to add more noise to the mix. This is of course always welcome, but not quite as interesting.

But I'd still take Pikachu over Okano Futoshi any day because in addition to banging the drums, she sings. And as a vocalist, she's the best Kawabata's found since Cotton Casino left the group. In fact, she's a perfect replacement for Cotton, and I really hope she'll be invited to join TMPUFO.

Journey into The Cosmic Inferno is one of those AMT albums that threatens to be a conceptual mess but is partially saved by Pikachu. While the six tracks are called movements, there's not much to tie them together. The opening riff of "Master of The Cosmic Inferno" reappears at the end of "Ecstasy into the Cosmic Inferno" but that's about it. Usually these albums lack memorable jams and include too many frustrating and indulgent tracks. The 22 minute jam "Master of the Cosmic Inferno - Heart of Earth" opens with a strong riff but then becomes a disappointingly formless jam....until the 2nd part ("Heart of Earth" I presume) where Pikachu takes over. The band drops out and she begins to sing, chrip, cluck (not really sure what to call all of the noises she makes) a pretty but haunting melody. Slowly the band takes shape around her, and the song reaches a liesurely conclusion.

3rd movement, "Ecstasy into the Cosmic Inferno" wastes no time. It starts with the two drummers gently playing a beat and from there instruments are slowly layered over. First there's a guitar riff, then an organ drone. And then more guitar, sitar, synths, bass and what appears to be every instrument the band has available. A lesser group would become overwhelmed, but the jam never falls apart. After 11 minutes, Pikachu's vocals come in, and the song becomes even more frenzied. When the band finally cuts the pace in half and plays the riff from "Master of The Cosmic of Inferno" it feels like a relief. A very loud relief.

But the most surprising moments of this album come towards the end. Penultimate track, "Usisi" is about 8 minutes of acoustic guitar and incomprehinsible vocals (maybe this is just because I don't know Japanese. You never know with these guys). It's just one repetitive melody, but its simplicity is its genius. The track feels completely effortless but I never find a reason to hold that against them. And the closing track "Shalom Cosmic Inferno" provides a nice climax to the album. The band sings together and Kawabata unleashes a crazed but focused solo. Maybe the songs tied together better than I thought.

Pink Lady Lemonade - You're from Outer Space features basically the same lineup, only they've added longtime sporadtic vocal collaborator Audrey Gineset. Pink Lady Lemonade is AMT's trademark jam. Every version of the band plays this song live. It first appeared on their first album in a very simple version that just doesn't compare to the awesome beauty of the live version. Since then, there have been a few attempts at putting this piece on an album, but they have all fallen short. For some reason, Kawabata is incapable of recording the song as it's played live.

And with the opening track, AMT appear ready to fuck it up again. The first track is a 23 minute version of Pink Lady Lemonade, but the first ten minutes sounds nothing like the jam AMT fans know. Instead it's a totally different melody that's light and enjoyable, but when they finally start playing the song as it's known, it feels like too little too late.

Fortunately, the band redeems themselves in their next two tracks, "Message From Outer Space" and "Take me to The Universe" (yes, there's a theme here), featuring Pikachu and Tabata on lead vocals respectively. Both songs are perfect companions to Pink Lady Lemonade. While each song reaches its own frenzied climax, they both start with simple beautiful melodies, and are just gorgeous sounding. What makes Pink Lady Lemonade so unique among AMT's jams is how relaxed pleasant it is. Sure, the solos are always frenzied, but the melody at the core of the jam is exceedingly simple and pleasant. A rarity for this band. And for this album, The Cosmic Inferno maintain those good feelings for more than an hour, even when they aren't playing Pink Lady Lemonade.

The concluding version of Pink Lady Lemonade should satisfy all fans. While it's just over 10 minutes long, far shorter than the live version, it wastes no time. For the first few minutes, the band chants "Pink Lady Lemonade" while the guitar melody plays. And then Tabata howls "you're so sweeeeet" and the drums come in and the song takes off. Kawabata begins his solo shortly, and doesn't let up until the end of the song. This version wastes no time in knocking listeners off their feet.

In the AMT catalogue, these may be minor works. Except for Pink Lady Lemonade, none of these jams will become standards in their live set. Nevertheless, these are 2 of the most consistent AMT albums you can find. And apparently The Melting Paradiso UFO is back and has released 2 new albums...stay tuned.

Pictures of Low at Bell House on 9/24/2008

Tuesday September 23, 2008 at Bell House: An Evening with Low

First the setlist:

Soon
Last Snowstorm of the Year
Like a Forest
Canada
Belarus
Lion/Lamb
Sunflower
Breaker
Pretty People
Point of Disgust
LaLaLa Song
BREAK
Do you know how to waltz?
Violent Past
That's how you sing Amazing Grace
Hatchet
Starfire
Unknown Song
Lordy
Pissing
Laser Beam
ENCORE
Santa is Coming
New Song

As you may be able to see from the setlist, Low played a pretty diverse set, covering most of their stuff all the way back to The Curtain Hits the Cast. This was a surprise to me since every time I've seen them, the set has been mostly focused on new material (I've seen them on their tours following Trust and Destroyer and I saw a Christmas show that was heavy on Drums and Guns material prior to its release). I could easily think of ten more songs I would have loved to hear, but that didn't really bother me since they played for about 2 hours and included more than twenty songs. I'm wondering if their show the previous night at the Mercury covered a totally different set list. I'm kind of betting it did, and I sort of regret missing that.

The new bassist might actually be my favorite. I saw him earlier this year playing bass guitar with the Retribution Gospel Choir, so I was somewhat surprised to see him playing standup bass last night. It was a nice touch for a lot of the songs, especially when he played it with the bow. A couple of songs were played differently than I've heard them.

But as usual, the main attraction was Alan Sparhawk. Whether he was shredding during "Lordy" (shredding may be a bit much. It was a pretty relaxed solo--still, very effective), warming up "Canada" with feedback and droning or almost-shouting during "Breaker" and "All the Pretty People", he was the center of attention. And that's probably my only complaint. The bass seemed a bit low in the mix, and Mimi Parker's voice was usually burried under his. She only sang lead vocals for one song. It's pretty clear that Alan Sparhawk is the genius (yes, I said genius) behind Low (and at least two other bands), but Mimi Parker is still responsible for plenty of their finest moments. Unfortunately, those are fewer and fewer these days.

Beyond that, I'm not really sure what to say about this show. It was a strong performance by one of my favorite bands. Every Low show I've been to has had some awkward audience banter between Alan Sparhawk and the audience. This show wasn't an exception, but at least it was kept to a minimum. I have a friend who refused to go see Low because she thought their music couldn't possibly be as engaging in a live setting. This drove me crazy, because to me, Low is one of the more exciting live bands around. Sure, most of their songs aren't very danceable, and they are one of the quietest live bands around (but they can unleash their fair amount of noise as they did last night), but Low knows how to sell every single not of every single song. That's not something every band can do. And they can inspire an entire audience to remain quiet enough to hear a few plucked guitar notes. That's something special.

Evil Urges by My Morning Jacket: A brilliant new direction, or a band that's lost its way?

By now My Morning Jacket fans have stopped scratching their heads in confusion and settled somewhere between two camps: those who hate Evil Urges and those that love it. While My Morning Jacket has already showed an interest in funk and prog rock, I doubt many fans anticipated some of the directions this would lead the band in. A friend of mine who is a pretty strong fan of the band was pissed off when he first heard this album. He described it as "yacht-rock" and said it sounded like Ween. A couple weeks later, his opinion was echoed in Pitchforkmedia.com's review of the album.

But not everyone has hated this album. Rolling Stone gave it four stars. But Rolling Stone gives everything four stars. Because Pitchfork's was the only review I'd read, I went into this review assuming that it's been pretty tepidly received. But Metacritic has the album receiving a 7.0--mostly positive reviews. But I hadn't read any of those when I started to listen to this album.

And right from the beginning, MMJ seems ready to to shatter the expectations of fans. Opening track, "Evil Urges" brings up memories of Z until Jim James starts singing. For this song he sings in a high falsetto that will be instantly grating to some listeners. The song features some interesting guitarwork towards the end, but ultimately fails to live up to its promise. Probably the most jarring song is "Highly Suspicious" where the falsetto is again on display, but this time he's backed by bizarre monotone vocals. This song makes me think of Prince. And I hate Prince. The solo towards the end is muted and wasted. Some might see MMJ going in a new funk and R&B direction with this song. I hear soft rock instead.

And then it gets worse. "I'm Amazed" is a downer because it's the first song on the album that sounds like MMJ, and it just makes me want to listen to one of the earlier MMJ albums. It's a pretty rock song that doesn't come close to matching their best work. And then there's "Thank You Too!" From the start, this song doesn't sound that different from MMJ's quieter more restrained songs. But when I got to the chorus, the yacht-rock accusations made perfect sense.

But halfway through the album, the quality dramatically picks up. "Librarian" is a haunting acoustic guitar driven song that holds up quite well. And for "Aluminum Park" and "Remnants" MMJ decides to be a rock band again, delivering two brilliant rock songs, bursting with energy. And then for the final two songs, "Smokin from Shootin" and "Touch me I'm going to scream pt. 2", they finally make their prog-rock sensibilities work for them. Both songs start quietly and build to a strong finish. If their other experiments had been as successful, they would have made a truly great album.

Pictures of Amanda Palmer at Soundfix Records on 9/19/2008

Friday September 20, 2008, Soundfix Records Bar area (?): Amanda Palmer free in-store ...I guess

I still don't get how it's an in-store performance if it's actually in a bar. But apparently Soundfix is that Williamsburg hipster-heaven that has a bar in the back of the CD store. Or a CD store at the back of the bar...not sure.

I would have been pissed off if I had paid for this. As a free show however, it was just a somewhat amusing disappointment. Amanda Palmer never seemed focused, and spent more time talking to the audience than playing. At times it was nice to observe the easy connection she forged with the audience. However, long waits between songs meant that the set was very short on actual music. And while I enjoyed hearing about her crazy mother and about how Ben Folds would drag a baby grand piano to every show he played, I found myself growing bored and restless.

I think she had some difficulties arriving. While I was browsing in the CD store, I overheard the manager speaking with her on the phone. The show was supposed to start at 8pm, but she walked into the building just a couple of minutes after 8. We were able to observe her entrance since we were seated right at the back next to the door.

We thought that was going to be our only chance to see her since the place was extremely crowded, the stage was low and Amanda has to sit to play piano. Thankfully, Amanda made everyone sit on down for the performance. As a result, we had a perfect unobstructed view of the stage. At least until she decided to move over to the house piano after the first song. Apparently her keyboard didn't sound very good on stage. From where we were sitting it sounded fine. The second song was much more energetic than the first. As a result, when she polled the audience, they voted for her remaining at the acoustic piano.

She maybe played 2 or 3 more songs (one of them on ukulele) before inviting her friend (Jason Webley?) to join her for a sing. They got about a minute and a half in before they were shut down. Apparently the fire department was on their way to shut down the show. This struck me as odd since it was only 9:30 and the loudest thing there was the applause. Amanda Palmer promised to continue the performance outside on the street, but I was too tired to wait for that. So I went home. Just didn't seem worth the trouble.

Diary of a Superfan: Acid Mothers Temple - an introduction

So far, I'm not doing a very good job at my Diary of a Superfan entries. I haven't done much besides review a concert and an album. And that's a shame because my relationship with the music of Oneida and Centro-Matic is way too deep for a simple album or concert review. That sounds kind of stupid, but what I'm trying to say is this: because I've listened to both of those bands so much --both live and on album-- any reaction I have to their music is inevitably going to involve comparisons to previous albums/concerts and my strong personal connection to their music.

This probably makes for a better and more informative review than one written by someone who's just a casual listener or has never listened to the band before. But I'd like to go beyond just reviewing the music. What else I would do, I'm still not exactly sure. But our relationships with music is more than just a thumbs up/thumbs down review. At least mine certainly is. And while I was somewhat late to the party with Acid Mothers Temple, they have become one of my biggest musical obsessions over the past several years.

I had heard of the band in college, but never bothered to check them out. To me, they were one of those weird experimental bands that were somehow beyond me. I had heard of them referred to as a collective, so I assumed it was a very large band. And then for some reason in 2005, I decided to finally check them out. At this time, Acid Mothers Temple were touring under the name Acid Mothers Temple and The Cosmic Inferno. All that I knew about this incarnation was that it was supposedly a harder rocking version of the band. Beyond that, I really had little idea what to expect.

So I went to my first Acid Mothers Temple show. And I was totally blown away. The band played no more than four songs total that evening, three of them lasting well beyond 20 minutes. I will probably never forget the opening of that show. The keyboard player/guitarist Higashi Hiroshi started the set by making (what I have now learned are his typical) space age sound effects with his keyboard. Lead guitarist and leader of all versions of Acid Mothers Temple, Kawabata Makoto noodled about on electric sitar. The bassist, Tabata Mitsuro made strange percussion noises with his bass guitar and joined in the free-form jam. And the drummer just sat there. Until Kawabata suddenly started playing major chords on the sitar. And then all hell broke loose.

For the next hour and a half, I was subjected to some of the loudest music I had ever heard. And at one point I even took my earplugs (actually just toilet paper) out so that I could hear more of it. It was that good. And then my ears hurt too much so I put them back in. And somehow when I stepped closer and put my head in the direct path of the lead guitarists amp, it got even louder. At the end, in the middle of a breakneck fast song, Hiroshi suddenly became disgusted with his guitar, threw it to the ground and moved over to the keyboard where he proceeded to go apeshit. Kawabata finished his bit by swinging his guitar around and hooking it on one of the speakers above. The drummer and bassist continued to play for a good couple of minutes after the other two had left. And then it was over. I had fallen in love.

Since then, I have seen Acid Mothers Temple in various forms seven times. I have bought 29 of their albums. And I have spent countless hours of my life dancing around like an idiot in my room while listening to their music turned up as loud as I dare. Just by the numbers, Acid Mothers Temple are one of the most rewarding bands around for someone like me. I love loud, long songs. No one plays longer or louder. They tour and record constantly, sometimes releasing more than 5 albums in a year. A fan of this band never runs out of music to listen to.

And then there's the music itself. Sure, there's a reliance on extended guitar freakouts, but there's also so much more there. Band leader Kawabata Makoto never ceases experimenting, and bringing new contributors to the fold. The musicianship is nearly flawless. I say nearly, because Acid Mothers Temple can be one of the most deliberately sloppy bands on the planet. No song is ever played the same way twice.

And while Acid Mothers Temple is clearly Kawabata's show (he is a member of every incarnation of the band that I know of except for one. And that one has only one album to its name), he definitely lets his supporting members shine. Tsuyama Atushi, the bassist of AMT and the Melting Paradiso UFO in addition to being a great bassist, is also a great singer (when he decides to be. His gibberish freakouts are a staple of the live act). Former singer and keyboard player Cotton Casino may have looked like a drunk burnout, but she had the voice of an angel when she was in the band. Kawabata shares the songwriting credits with his band members, and the collaborative nature of the music is always in display.

But none of this would be possible without the crazed genius of Kawabata Makoto. He usually has about 5 instruments credited to him on every album, but it's the guitar he was made for. Watching him play guitar is a revelation. He swings it around, holds it up to the air and moves his fingers all over the fretboard with almost no effort. But it never sounds like aimless noodling. Somehow he manages to hit every right note even at his fastest and most reckless. He has written several times about communicating with the cosmos with his music. To the uninitiated, this sounds like the talk of a mad man. To those of us that have heard him, it sounds like the only reasonable explanation.

The New Year S/T

It's usually a sign that something's gone wrong when a band releases a self titled album that isn't their first. The only exception I can think of is Camper Van Beethoven's 3rd album. Can released a self titled album shortly before falling apart. Weezer's released 2 new self titled albums since their comeback. Both have sucked. There are more examples, but I'll leave it at that for now. If anyone has any albums that they'd like to add to prove/disprove this rule, please post.

Anyway, The New Year's latest album is self titled, and it's almost as bad as that would indicate. The wonderful minimalism of Matt and Bubba Kadane's previous band Bedhead is almost nearly gone. I say nearly because opening track, "Folios" is about as minimalist as they come. The song opens with gently strum acoustic guitar and takes its full five minutes to build. Unfortunately, by the time the song has really captured my attention, it's almost over. This is true for most of the album's best moments. Album closer "The Idea of You" basically ends a minute after it finally picks up steam. "Seven Days and Seven Nights" promises one of the Kadane brothers classic guitar crescendos but ends way too soon.

As Bedhead, Matt and Bubba Kadane were one of the strongest minimalist rock groups out there. At the time, they made Low's sound look weak and unfocused. But while Low has consistently challenged themselves and taken their sound in wildly different directions, Matt and Bubba Kadane have changed just enough with The New Year to avoid accusations of repeating themselves. Adding piano to the mix served them well on their previous album, and it also lends some strength to their latest effort, especially on "The Company I Can Get". But for the most part, the album offers nothing new that I actually enjoy hearing. "The Door Opens" sounds like a song from a less interesting indie rock band, and it just gets on my nerves.

Another problem is the vocals. Bedhead had a tendency to bury the vocals in the mix. This was a smart decision. Neither of the Kadane brothers have an especially tuneful voice, and the lyrics to most of their songs aren't especially interesting or clever. But for some reason The New Year has decided that the vocals should be front and center in the mix. This does the band no favors.

But I guess I understand. The band seems to know that they have no memorable melodies for us. Except for "Folios", none of the songs stretch much beyond three minutes. There's nothing here with the ability to stun listeners like Bedhead classic "Rest of the Day". And absent a good melody on guitar, Matt and Bubba Kadane are no longer exceptional. They're just a disappointingly ordinary rock band.

Pictures from last night: Lightning Bolt and Growing

Growing:



Lightning Bolt:

Saturday September 14, 2008 at some empty lot at 979 Broadway Brooklyn: Lightning Bolt and Growing

The evening was already off to a bad start when we arrived at 5:45 and not a single band had played yet. The show was supposed to start at 3:30. Since it seemed extremely unlikely that lightning bolt would play before 8:30 or even 9, and since I had skipped lunch, we took a bus back to Clinton Hill, ate dinner and returned just in time for Growing. So we missed all of the other bands. I guess this will be the pattern for all of these reviews. There was a time when I'd spend my whole day at a music venue and would see every band that plays. But I'm too old for that now. Or at least I feel that way. So we probably missed about 2 or 3 bands. Whatever. If you want the full review go somewhere else. I only really cared about Lightning Bolt

But we were there for the entire Growing set. Anyone who's seen Lightning Bolt before, knows it's good to at least be there for the first band so that you can save a spot by the band's equipment. Lightning Bolt usually starts playing right after the band before them, and they never play on stage. More on this later.

So Growing. Not sure what to say here. I was mildly surprised to see that their music was made entirely (or mostly. I was to the side of the stage and didn't have a perfect view) with guitars. My old roommate had played their albums a few times, and it sounded like stuff made with computers or keyboards. Apparently they're able to get those ambient noises with guitars. Unfortunately, it's still not very interesting. A friend of mine who's friends with one of the members in the band mentioned that they were disappointed with their performance. I'm really not sure if I would have been able to tell the difference between that and a "good" performance.

As Growing reached the end of their set, the space by Lightning Bolt's equipment became extremely tight. Unfortunately, because of some technical difficulties, Lightning Bolt wasn't able to play right when Growing finished. In fact, they took about as long as any other band would take to finally play. Unfortunately, this didn't seem to matter much to the crowd who had started to push and shove before the band even started. I guess there's some excuse. Brian Chipendale was looping his vocals, and several times I saw Brian Gibson pick up his bass guitar and I thought the show was about to start. But the level of pushing and shoving was so bad that I thought we were going to fall on the band. And they hadn't even started playing!

Once they did, I didn't last long. I made it through one song, decided that this was too much hassle for too little payoff. Plus, I didn't feel like being drenched in sweat for the rest of the evening. My girlfriend had already left before the band had even started playing. I didn't blame her. So I stayed up front for the first song and then made my way back to the stage where I hoped to be able to see something. I really couldn't see much beyond the crowd. For most of the set I could just see the head of the bassist. At one point I was standing on a speaker and was able to see both band members, but that didn't last long.

Removed from the scene, it was really hard to get into the music. With the distance, I didn't really need my earplugs at all. Since the joy of listening to Lightning Bolt --both live and in the studio- is being overwhelmed by their sound, this really took a lot out of the show. The set was entirely "new" (they also played a set of almost entirely new material in January of 2007, so I'm not sure what songs were repeated and what songs were actually new) set except for Megaghost at the end. A few of the songs were really good, but at such a distance, I wasn't able to get into it as I have in the past.

When I first saw Lightning Bolt, I thought it was one of the best shows I'd ever seen. They had caught me totally off guard when they began playing immediately after the preceding band. While I never got close enough to see much of anything, I was close enough to hear the band perfectly. There was no shoving or pushing, and I was able to just enjoy being overwhelmed by their sound.

The 2nd and third times I saw them, I was smart enough to save myself a spot at the front. Both times I left drenched in sweat and aching from nearly an hour of battle with the rest of the audience. I spent a lot of time at both shows thinking I was about to be pitched over the drumset. With the amps and the drums right in front of me and the exhaustion of holding back the mob behind me, I was truly blown away. I remember one song in particular from that last show that was just one extremely repetitive and low bass riff that just drove me insane. I left both shows deliriously happy and exhausted.

But now, I just wish they would grow up and play on the stage. Maybe I would have been able to enjoy watching from afar last night if the show had been indoors. With walls holding their sound in, I think they would have been a lot louder. But now that Lightning Bolt is a fairly famous noise act that can draw 100s of people to their shows, their shows have become an orgy of violence that makes the music really hard to enjoy. I'm sure there are people out there who'd disagree, but for me the novelty of not being able to see Lightning Bolt has worn off.

Is Songs in A&E Really Spiritualized's best album in 10 years?

The new Spiritualized album appears to have received glowing reviews from just about everyone. I swear, I've read multiple reviews that said, "Ladies and gentlemen, the best Spritualized album in ten years." Or something like that. I sometimes wonder if these people are listening to the same album that I bought.

One thing the album has going for it is lots of anticipation. Because of an illness that nearly killed him, Jason Pierce, this album was delayed a couple of years (the last album came out in 2003), and has been named after the Accident and Emergency Ward in British hospitals. It's Pierce's "I nearly died" album. So it has a good backstory and a good pun for the title. But what about the songs?

Honestly, I can't fathom why anyone would hold this up with his best work. At first I thought I was just frustrated that he had taken a bit of a musical departure. Only two of the songs on the album, "Yeah Yeah" and "You lie you cheat" really rock. The majority of the songs display Pierce's quieter side. I don't know about you, but I never listened to Spiritualized or The Spacemen 3 for the quiet moments. Not that they've been unwelcome. But any song that puts Jason Pierce's voice front and center is starting at a disadvantage. And that describes just about every song on this album.

It's not all bad. Opener, "Sweet talk" is a genuinely affecting song that may not stand up there with "Ladies and Gentlemen We are Floating in Space" (and really, how many songs can compare to that masterpiece?), but it's not too far off, and it is one of his more memorable songs. And maybe I'm in a minority opinion, but his attempt to provide another similarly rousing song with "Soul on Fire", falls completely flat. It's the first single, and apparently a lot of people like it, but for me it does nothing. It reminds me of "Stop Your Crying" which was also the first single on Let it Come Down and one of my least favorite songs on that album (I was really worried that album would suck when I heard that song).

"Babe I'm just a fool" is a genuine musical departure for Pierce that actually works. At seven minutes, it's the longest song on the album where most of the songs fall between 2 and 4.5 minutes. The song is driven by a simple acoustic strumming that eventually gets overpowered by horns and backing vocals. I think there are backing vocals. There always are. Anyway, it's a very good song. But it's one of few on this album. Too many of the songs are too somber and flat. One song like "Death Take Your Fiddle" is cool and interesting. But then you have "Sitting on Fire" and "Borrowed your gun" and others like it. It gets old pretty fast.

So am I missing something? I haven't seen a single negative review of this album. Who's wrong here? I'm going to go out on a limb and say that it's every single critic that's reviewed this album. And it's not just because I'm self centered. Or because the only other person I've spoken with about this album was equally disappointed.

No, I'm basing this on their live show. To me, nothing reveals the strength or weakness of a musical act like their live show. And when I saw them in concert over the summer, it was a horribly disappointing experience. Well maybe that's an exaggeration. The opening performance of "You lie you cheat" was wonderfully noisy and merged into a wonderful version of "Shine a Light". They also played "Lay Back in the Sun" for the first time in 10 years (for me at least) and did a bangup job of it too. But then there was that middle section of new songs. They just didn't hold the same power as the older material. The closing medley of "Come Together" and a blissfully chaotic version of "Take me to the Other side" felt like way too little too late (well it wouldn't have been too late if they had kept playing. This was also a comparitively short set from Spiritualized).

I could blame the backup singers. They don't really fit in with Spiritualized's best live moments. But Jason Pierce is the one who decided to bring them along instead of other musicians that could make more noise. And here's why I love taking my girlfriend to shows. Because otherwise, I'd wonder if it was just my bad/tired mood that ruined the show. But when we left, she complained that the songs that weren't rock songs dragged everything down. Maybe Spaceman will go back to rocking on the next album. Or maybe he'll tour America a 2nd time like he did after Let it Come Down with a more stripped down and rock focused band. I really hope so. Because his current musical path is no more interesting than the typical Brit-rock act. Which is a shame because Spiritualized has always been one of the most revelatory and original bands that I've listened to.

The Gutter Twins, Saturnalia, plus a few words about Greg Dulli

Saturnalia for me will always be a depressing landmark in Greg Dulli's career. Not because the albums marks any major dips in quality. And Dulli's collaboration with Lanegan is really nothing to be upset about. But for whatever reason, this is the album that has finally convinced me that Greg Dulli is a hack.

Very little on Saturnalia is worth remembering. To be honest, I've listened to it several times, and I can't remember more than a couple of songs well enough to write this review without putting the CD in and flipping through the tracks to refresh my memory. But that's okay. Nothing on this album should surprise anyone who's familiar with Dulli and Lanegan's recent work. It's all the same typically moody dark music they've been making for the last few years. The album opens with the Lanegan-sung song, "The Stations" which is good at setting a mood, but fails to ever build any real energy.

And it never really gets much better. "Idle Hands" opens with some interesting ominous vocals and vaguely foreign sounding guitar riffs, but it quickly morphs into a painfully bland rock song. Lanegan's deep voice has been put to great use in the past (more on this later), but here, both Dulli and Lanegan seem to count in it's tonal depth to make up for lacking musical and lyrical depth. Dulli's songs are a little bit better, but still not much more memorable. "All Misery/Flowers" sounds like it belongs on the first Twilight Singers album. The album picks steam in its last four tracks. "I was in love with you" is a genuinely pleasant song, and "Bete Noire" actually has more than Lanegan's voice going for it.

"Each to Each" is my favorite song on the album with it's electronic drums and near-absence of Mark Lanegan. This is the kind of seductive rock that Dulli has excelled at for years. Unfortunately, it's too little too late. And closing track "Front Street" quietly brings the album to a close, but because everything preceding it had failed to captivate in the first place, it feels like somewhat of an anti-climax.

More depressing than the songs on this album is what they reveal about Greg Dulli. The man is a hack. More specifically, his entire artistic persona is somewhat cheesy at best. Just the name of his latest project should make anyone with any taste groan. GUTTER TWINS? This has to be one of the worst band names ever. Or at least close. Was 3dgy Boyz taken? And then look at the artwork. The cover art is a trailer park on a stormy night. And the CD booklet has pictures of Lanegan and Dulli in a bar, in a bathroom and standing in front of a dilapidated building. And for some reason Dulli has a cigarette in all except one of the pictures.

Unfortunately, this kind of aesthetic has informed Dulli's entire career. It's taken me a while to be bothered by this because every now and then Dulli manages to write and record a truly great album. I'm apparently in a critical minority for thinking that The Afghan Wig's finest moment was 1995's Black Love. And this album puts Dulli's brooding self-centered persona on full display. Each lyric sheet is accompanied by a black and white photograph that supposedly matches the song. And the title Black Love is enough to make anyone cringe.

But as far as I'm concerned, that's where criticism of this album should end. Sure, the songs are overblown and melodramatic, but Dulli's able to deliver the goods. And "Summer's Kiss" is a burst of pure joy. And for all the gloominess, songs like "Going to Town" and "Blame, etc." should make even the most jaded listener want to dance. The album opens and closes with the same ambient noise. For "Crime Scene Part 1" it eases us into the searing music, and on "Faded" it allows us to catch our breath at the end of the album.

The Afghan Wigs next and final album 1965 was a very solid and enjoyable album, but it didn't come close to matching the ambition of its predecessor. And with the first Twilight Singers album, Dulli seemed permanently poised to move into at least somewhat sunnier territory. That ended with 2003's Blackberry Belle. While Black Love may be self obsessed and over ambitious, Blackberry Belle is a masterpiece in understatement. The guitars are never as loud as they were with The Afghan Wigs, the songs rarely strain much beyond four minutes. And Greg Dulli rarely yells, instead settling into his new role as a crooner.

While Black Love was searing, Blackberry Belle is a beautiful and delicate affair. Opening track "Martin Eden" begins with piano and almost whispered vocals. When the guitars come in, they lift the song up as Dulli sings "How wide? How deep the river? black - as dark as night. How long? How far? I'll know when I get to the other side." And eventually the song comes right back down to the same quiet beauty that it began with. This pretty much sums up every song on the album. Nearly every song on here feels both like a pop song and an epic at the same time.

Especially the closer, "Number Nine". Here, Dulli allows Lanegan to take most of the vocal duties (he wasn't an official member of this band at the time), and the results are stunning. Lanegan's deep voice puts more force behind the lyrics than Dulli ever could. The combination of soaring guitars and strings played over Lanegan's booming voice on the final verse is truly stunning.

So how can someone I called a "hack" make two amazing works of art like Black Love and Blackberry Belle? Obviously Dulli is a talented songwriter. But those talents are not always on display. My theory is that both of those albums are examples of what happens when Dulli is able to dig deep and put all of his emotional and spiritual turmoil onto an album. I remember reading something in Rolling Stone once where Dulli basically claimed that he couldn't perform some of the songs on Black Love because of where they took him.

While this sounds pretty melodramatic, and I have no idea what circumstances led to the writing of that collection of songs, the origins of Blackberry Belle are well documented. When Dulli's close friend director Ted Demme died suddenly of a heart attack, he scrapped an entire album's worth of material and wrote a new one in tribute to his dead friend. None of the songs refer to Demme directly in any way that I can tell, but as you can tell by the above lyrics I've quoted, it's an album that's pre-occupied with death and loss. You can hear the heartbreak in nearly every song on here.

And there lies the secret of Greg Dulli. He's not a clever lyricist. Sonically, his music provides no new insights. And his aesthetic sense is horrible. But somehow he manages to write some of the most memorable albums of recent memory. This doesn't stem from his raw musical ability. Rather, Dulli is able to create such master-works because of his impressive ability to dig deep within himself and put those difficult moments nakedly into songs. God that sentence is awful. But I don't know how else to describe it. Dulli's best moments are when he lays himself bare for the listener and allows the brooding musician facade fade away. The rest of the time he's a bore.

Pictures from the Monster Island Block Party: Oneida, Ex-Models and Golden Triangles

Oneida, First Set:







Human Sacrifice Show:




Ex-Models:




Golden Triangles:






The only picture that came out well from the Oneida live album show:

September 7, 2008: Monster Island Block Party at Secret Project Robot - Oneida, Ex-Models, Golden Triangle and weird "art" performances and Oneida

With this review I am going to start trying to post pictures (when I have them). Pictures will be posted shortly after the review is complete (so they'll show up first when reading the blog). I thought about putting the pictures in the text, but that's too complicated, and probably not ideal for reading/viewing.

Despite being advertised as a block party, this show took place entirely indoors at Secret Project Robot. I suspect that this had something to do with the fact that it rained for nearly the entire day, but since I never saw anything set up outside, I really don't know if this was their plan all along. When we arrived, it was raining pretty hard. I might have blown this one off, but Oneida performing a 2nd show later that night in their studio, and I needed to be there before they played at 5:30 to pick up our tickets.

So I was pleasantly surprised when we arrived at 5:15 to see that the show/party was entirely indoors, I was a bit frustrated to see that there were no performances at the time and that I was unable to find anyone in Oneida (I had contacted the drummer, Kid Millions, on MySpace in order to request tickets), but eventually we ran into Hanoi Jane (Oneida's lead guitarist), and he was nice enough to give me two tickets. Then Kid Millions showed up as well as Dave, the long haired guy I've seen at nearly every Oneida show since moving here (he was also in the band for one weekend). I learned that Raphael Saadiq, the asshole who cut into 30 minutes of Oneida's set time last week, was actually a member of Toni! Tone! Tony! Jane seemed amused that Saadiq's long set had made me angry. Still kind of angry about that.

Now you might think that for a self professed superfan, a chance to speak with the musicians of a favorite band is something to celebrate. However, the truth is more complicated. While the guys in Oneida are exceedingly nice and approachable, not every musician is. And no one wants to look like a dork in front of their favorite bands. But what about when the band members are extremely nice and approachable like Oneida? Well then you face another problem. My primary interaction with these people is watching them perform, yelling after each song and dancing/flailing about until I'm out of my mind. There's something about this kind of relationship that makes casual social interaction inherently strange to me. While I've still been able to thoroughly enjoy performances by musicians I've spoken to (and even share friends with), I still find it somewhat disconcerting to break down the social barriers between artist and fan.

But enough of that bullshit. How was the show/party? I'm curious how this thing would have been received if it were an outdoor performance. I kind of think it benefited by being moved inside by the rain (assuming that's what happened). The performance spaces felt very full during every performance. This is probably a good thing, since not all of them were so great. And since Secret Project Robot is located in a pretty desolate part of Williamsburg, we would have been faced with a pretty empty block party rather than a packed party at an art gallery (.

Well the first "performance" that we were able to see was some sort of performance art thing in the basement area. Since none of the performance spaces actually had a stage, it was extremely difficult to see much of anything without being in one of the first three rows. All we were able to see were painted people flailing about and yelling while someone made noise with his guitar. After getting bored rather quickly, we decided to go back upstairs and relax in a more ventilated room. The next performance upstairs was some sort of noise band. It took us about 5 minutes to get bored of them (never bothered to catch their name) and move back downstairs to wait for Oneida to set up.

Apparently the art performance had been very messy because the whole floor was being mopped up by several people who were covered in paint. Once the cleanup was done, we were able to get a spot (almost) at the front for Oneida. There was just one long haired guy in an American flag vest that was all over the place. Rather than set up to noisy obnoxious music, soft jazz was playing on the speakers while Oneida set up. This was a nice change of pace. I really don't have much to say about this set. They played Pre-Teen Weaponry for the fourth time that I've seen. It was good, but I would have liked to hear something else this time around. The 2nd and last song was a short (for a live performance) version of "Snow Machine". And then they were done. I would have been a bit disappointed, but it was a free show, and we were going to see a 2nd set later that night.

By the time we got back upstairs, this band called Comas (I think that's what they said) was playing. They sounded pretty noisy, angry and good, and I would have liked to see them, but I was hungry and didn't really want to miss the Ex-Models, so we went to eat and were lucky enough to find a decent restaurant a few blocks away. When we got back, The Ex-Models seemed to be mostly set up downstairs, and there was another band set up upstairs. So we had no idea who was playing next or where. We walked around a bit more looking at the art. And then a procession of scantily (and in one case, naked) people walked by with white paint on their bodies. The procession led downstairs for another "art" piece. This one was some sort of human sacrifice. I wasn't impressed. If this had been the introduction to some sort of band with talent, then I might have been intrigued. But on its own, it did nothing for me. Just some naked people acting weird.

And now (since I don't really know where else to put it), a word about the audience at the show. One word: hipsters. By now, complaining about hipsters has gone beyond cliche. But they're real. And they're all over Williamsburg. And they were out in force last night. The bad haircuts, tight pants, tattoos, bad dancing, artistic pretentiousness (we were in an art gallery after all, and 2 of the performances were "art" pieces). I'm not really complaining. Other than a few people who were a bit too drunk/excited, the show was plenty of fun. And I enjoy people watching. And even if the "art" performances were kind of silly and pointless, it certainly made this one of the most interesting shows I've been to. I may not really enjoy art that much, but it was nice to be in a place that was more interesting than your typical bar.

So after having some technical issues while setting up (one of the guitarists amps started to smoke), The Ex-Models finally played. Unfortunately the guitarist continued to have technical difficulties throughout the show. As a result, the Ex-Models only played two songs. The first was an extremely repetitive and abrasive number that is more easily appreciated at a distance for the energy and skill that goes into it. The second song they played was a wonderful mix of noisy guitarwork and tribal drumming. It was a real shame that they couldn't play more.

And then back upstairs for the final band of the actual party, Golden Triangles. From their set-up (two female singers with tambourines, 2 guitarists, drums and bass guitar) they looked like they'd be some type of girl-fronted garage rock band. And that was almost right. The sound was too muddy to be garage rock, but they definitely had that kind of energy. The vocals were somewhat abrasive, but the energy of the singers was infectious. The drummer actually did pretty well when he sang. The drummer and bassist were probably the strongest musicians in the band. One song towards the end had a really good bass groove, but inexplicably fell apart.

The crowd went crazy for pretty much the entire set. By the end, there was no division between the band and the rest of people dancing to the music. That was fine, but it got a bit out of control when people kept bumping into the PA speaker and one jackass decided to spray beer everywhere. I did enjoy watching the guitarist play half a song while being held up by the audience. At the end of the show, the band seemed to be leaving and then abruptly dove right into another song. I think by the time Golden Triangles played, most everyone there was pretty drunk. Or maybe they were just that good. I was certainly pleasantly surprised.

And then finally, the moment I'd been waiting for. The show in Oneida's studio for the recording of a live album. Bobby, Jane and Shahin were all wearing absurd burgundy jackets. The space was extremely cramped, and I was lucky enough to get a spot by the steps leading to the control room. Partially because of the strange set up (the band played in a circle facing some of the audience members while others stood by the door. space was tight), it was not the typical concert atmosphere. Oneida passed around beer and champagne (and other stuff) to the audience, I think hoping to get a looser crowd response. I tried to do my part, cheering loudly and yelling for them to "play something by Oneida!" But a fair amount of time was spent with the various members of Oneida talking among eachother and telling jokes.

The material was entirely new. I hadn't heard any of these songs played live before. There were at least two minute long free-noise freakouts. A couple small instrumental numbers featuring just a couple members of the band. Of the songs, only a couple really stood out for me. One was what I'd consider classic (at least these days) Oneida: a punishing keyboard/drum groove with noisy and fierce guitarwork on top. Another song featured both Shahin and Kid Millions on the drums. The closer was a long jam that unfortunately didn't captivate me as much as some of their other long jams have. But by that point, the room felt like an oven, and I was sort of looking forward to the end. Which is a shame, because the song really seemed to be getting into a good groove by the end. But then it was over. And as nice as everyone had been, I just wanted to thank the band and get into the cool air as soon as possible. Hopefully I'll be able to listen to that show again soon.

Diary of a Superfan: Dual Hawks by Centro-matic/South San Gabriel

It has happened. Will Johnson/Centro-Matic/South San Gabriel (all three are basically the same band since Will Johnson writes all of the songs, and his three band-mates from Centro-Matic join him on all three projects) has finally lost me. This is no small feat. I used to see Centro-Matic in concert nearly once a month, have purchased every album/ep/single I could find and by now have seen them more than thirty times live. But after this, I can't be a superfan anymore. This double-album the most unessential and least interesting music he has recorded to date. The most interesting thing about it is the title: it's the only double album I've heard of to be recorded by "two" (they're really the same band) bands.

So lets start with the Centro-Matic disc. Judging by the reviews I read, I was in a minority for considering their previous album, Fort Recovery, to be a new low point in their career. But even that album had more memorable hooks than Dual Hawks. Other than the band's attempt to become a barroom country band on "Twenty-Four", there are few flashes of creativity here. In fact, Centro-Matic sounds LESS creative than they did in their Denton heyday. What's so frustrating about the songs here is that they're not bad, they're just not memorable at all. There's simply no reason to listen to this album if you have any other Centro-Matic album.

The South San Gabriel disc isn't much better. It benefits from more interesting and diverse instrumentation, but like its companion, it also lacks hooks. The notable exception for me is the closing track, "From This I Will Awake" which manages to finally grab me as Will Johnson sings "I may need you to wait" as the song climaxes. Unfortunately, by then I've stopped paying attention. The tone of this disc is so somber and morose that even when the band comes up with an interesting arrangement like they do on "Of Evil/For Evil" and "Senselessly", I just can't stay interested.

With Dual Hawks it is finally clear that Will Johnson is spreading himself thin. There is maybe enough material on these two discs for one decent album. If they had put their full energies behind the best ten songs, maybe I would be writing a very different review. But they didn't. And Centro-Matic and South San Gabriel are performing "together" as I write this. Maybe the shows will prove grueling and Will Johnson will finally wise up and record under one band name. Here's hoping.

Hamlet 2 and Sukiyaki Western Django

My dad used to (and maybe he still does. I don't spend enough time in Texas these days to know for sure) frequently complain that the arts critics at The Dallas Observer tried to wear too many hats at the same time. Robert Wilonsky wrote a substantial portion of the magazine's music and film reviews. I always sort of felt that this was an unfair criticism. The paper probably didn't have enough money to hire a full time film and music critic. And really, if you can write an album review, you can write a movie review. Us music lovers also frequently love movies.

So to that end, I'll start including movie reviews in this blog. This weekend I saw Hamlet 2 and Sukiyaki Western Django.

I'll start with the first movie that I saw (and also the easiest to review), Hamlet 2. If this movie doesn't start Steve Coogan's career as a star in America, then there's really no justice in the world. While I am still mostly unfamiliar with his television work in the UK as the self-centered television show host Alan Partridge, I have seen two of his star performances in 24 Hour Party People and Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story, and I remember vividly how both movies (especially the first) were well served by Coogan's comic skills.

However, both of those movies (especially Tristram Shandy) involved frequently breaking the forth wall, and required Coogan to portray not just the characters of the story, but himself as well. In Hamlet 2, he gives a much more straightforward performance as Dana Marschz (pronounced Marsessesss--or something like that), a failed actor and failing drama teacher. Several clips of his advertising work quickly give us a good idea of how his acting career went. And a school performance of Erin Brockovich by the only two members of his drama program give us a good idea of where his his teaching career is headed (nowhere).

But two instigating events (and allow me to digress and point out how wonderful it is that writers Pam Brady and Andrew Fleming were able to think of more plot devices than Dana Marschz being weird. The writing is superb; it never sinks into laziness and relies on one single factor to deliver all the laughs or plot development) quickly change things for Dana. First, because the school has cancelled the cool extra-curricular activities, his drama class has swelled in size, including what drama student Epiphany Sellars refers to as "ethnics". Second, because of budget cuts, the theater program has just one last term.

This and his hope to finally earn a positive review from the highschool paper's theater critic (one if many hilarious minor roles that scatter the film), Dana attempts to put his own work into production: Hamlet 2. I still don't fully understand the plot of the play. It involves Hamlet, Jesus, "Satan french kissing the President", a time machine and a musical number extolling Jesus' sexiness (one of the best scenes of the film). Reactions to the script range from ridicule from his wife Brie (a character that would have felt horribly implausible and unnecessary with anyone except for Catherine Keener in the role), outrage from his school principal to bafflement from some of his students parents.

As you know by now (if you've seen any trailers), Dana finally pulls of his production. He does this thanks to his dedicated cast who --not as implausibly as you would think-- actually buy into Dana's artistic vision and put all of their varied talents into the production. Next to Steve Coogan's performance, his young co-stars are my favorite thing about this movie. I haven't managed to find the ages of these cast members, but the majority of them actually looked like they could be in highschool (something rare in Hollywood films). More importantly, they actually ACT like highschoolers. Of course they make fun of Dana at the start of the film, but their conversion to his ardent supporters is entirely believable.

I've left out several great supporting performances. Amy Poehler as the jaded ACLU lawyer, Cricket Feldstein (she married a Jew). Elizabeth Shue, playing Elizabeth Shue who has quit acting to work as a nurse but still misses getting to make out with actors in movies. David Arquette in a largely silent role. But it's Coogan who brings them all together and who makes Hamlet 2 a smash both on stage and on the screen.

Takashi Miike's Sukiyaki Western Django is a much harder film to review. For one, I'm not sure whether I liked it or disliked it. Secondly, what kind of movie was it? I don't think it was a comedy (although someone behind us had a very different idea and laughed at just about every inappropriate moment in the film), but it certainly had elements of slapstick. Despite all of the shooting, stabbing and blowing things up, I'd hesitate to call it an action movie. And calling this an art film just feels like a lame cop-out to excuse the films baffling elements.

The story is incomprehensible except for the most basic elements: Two rival gangs, The Reds and The Whites are in a state of war in a small Japanese old western village (I should probably stop here to let you know that the film is set in some kind of fantasy world that combines the old west with ancient Japan. Swords and guns are used interchangeably). A lone gunman arrives in town. The rest of the plot is some bizarre re-interpretation of Yojimbo and Fistful of Dollars. The rival gangs are after some sort of treasure (I can't remember where it turned out to have been placed), and there's a subplot about a murdered Red who had married a White and fathered a boy. The mother returns to the Whites and appears to have some sort of revenge plot.

I have a feeling that anyone who's seen many of Miike's films (I have only seen Dead or Alive) has some idea of what comes next: radical shifts in story and tone. Several characters you thought would live end up dying while others turn out to be amazing gunslingers. And then there's the sheriff with multiple personalities. And the leader of The Reds changes his name to Henry and makes a big deal of reading Shakespeare's Henry VI. Oh, and Quentin Tarantino is there to introduce the story, explain (poorly) one of the characters and parody his own training sequence from Kill Bill 2.

Apparently Miike's made four films since this one. He's made somewhere close to 80 films already. While the production values don't appear to suffer (much), they do suffer from a serious lack of creative restraint. But I've only seen 2/78 of his films. It would take a lot more time to find a representative sample. Sukiyaki Western Django feels as if it was made up as the director and cast went along. I know this can't be the case since the almost entirely Japanese speaking cast had to learn their English lines phonetically (something that's especially remarkable since Takashi Miike doesn't even speak English. Or so I've been told).

Takashi Miike's lack of restraint certainly makes this film frustrating. But I'm not sure if that's a bad thing. Sure, the finale isn't as emotionally satisfying as Yojimbo, Fistful of Dollars or Last Man Standing, but should a film about an orphaned child and massacres ever be satisfying?