Thursday, August 18th, 2005
Jim Jarmusch is a tricky one. With his latest, Broken Flowers, he manages to convince you that you’re watching a story about a lifelong bachelor who sets out in search of a long-lost son he never knew he had. And the film functions pretty well on that narrative level for most of its length, but if that’s the only level on which you’re taking it in, it’ll almost certainly be a disappointment. But if you’re appreciating it as a character study of a man searching for some sense of who he was and how he’s become the person he is today – all done completely internally and silently – it’s far more compelling.
I’ve not seen many of Jarmusch’s films before this – just Coffee & Cigarettes and I don’t think that can count as representative of his work… I thought he did a good job of balancing out the humourous moments (mainly Bill Murray’s exchanges with neighbour Jeffrey Wright) and the more thoughtful, introspective ones (there’s lots of shots of highways, roads, maps, etc – he’s on a journey, get it?). This probably counts as one of the more conventional films in Jarmusch’s ouvre, though. His other films seem considerably more out there – maybe this one was a bit of a departure for him?
Murray continues to milk his now-trademark deadpan, catatonic hangdog persona to an almost zen degree. No one else conveys so much or so little with a placid stare or slightest expression. Is he contemplating the emptiness of his existance or wondering what he’s going to have for lunch? YOU DON’T KNOW. One could argue that by now he’s phoning it in and probably has to work harder at voicing Garfield, but when the performance works as well as it does in the film, complaining seems crass. If there’s any question, it’s how someone like Murray could have been a playboy in his youth, let alone now. But perhaps that’s the point of contrasting Murray today with the women he was once with – to make you wonder who he had to have been back then to be with them, and how he’s ended up as he has. Hmm.
Remember how MTV banned the video for British Sea Power’s “Please Stand Up” because of their use of the apparently objectionable phrase “wetter and wetter”? Not that you can really make those words out unless you’re really listening for them… well anyway, you can see the vid here. It’s not as if MTV would have played the clip anyway… Via Salon’s Audiofile. If the link doesn’t go directly to the video, just search/browse a bit. The site has some good stuff, but is a little tough to get around.
The new and improved Junkmedia has an interview with The Decemberists. Well, it’s really just Colin. Gothamist also has an interview. Junkmedia’s doing the blog thing, too. Gothamist doesn’t have to – it’s already a blog.
Prefix has a nice little two-part interview with Eric Johnson of The Fruit Bats.
More shows – A Stille Poster has info that Australian pop collective Architecture In Helsinki will be in town on October 1 at a venue to be determined (Pitchfork has their tour diary as this week’s feature). Also, The Hold Steady/Constantines tour is finally stopping in Toronto at the Opera House on November 2, and as Chris from The Final Bell pointed out in yesterday’s comments, Richard Thompson will be at Trinity-St Paul’s on October 20 with Danny Thompson and Eliza Gilkyson. The October concert sched is rapidly getting out of hand. Decisions are going to have to be made. Hard decisions.
The Torontoist week in shows leads off with the Three Gut 5th anniversary party going down on Saturday. Related articles – Three Gut’s Lisa Moran gave NOW a list of favourite reminiscences of the last five years, eye compiles their ultimate Three Gut mixed tape and Cokemachineglow has an interview with the gut of three himself, Jim Guthrie.
Anyone familiar with The Zephyrs out of the UK? Allmusic describes their first album When the Sky Comes Down It Comes Down on Your Head as combining “the epic grandeur of Mogwai with the country-rock of Gram Parsons“, which would pretty much make them my favourite band ever. Okay, it doesn’t HAVE to sound like a “Hickory Wind”/”Like Herod” mashup (but how great would that be?) but is it good? Their stuff is muy expensive over here, if you can even find it, so I’d like to get some testimonials before I start plunking down import prices.
np – Archers Of Loaf / Vee Vee
Wednesday, August 17th, 2005
This started out as a Shearwater post, and then after I got Black Sheep Boy, grew into an Okkervil River post as well, and then after poking around Jound.com a bit, it’s just a big ol Will Robinson Sheff respect post.
I think I sampled some Okkervil many moons ago from Said The Gramophone and quite frankly, wasn’t impressed. From what I recall, the fidelity of the recording made Sparklehorse sound like Pink Floyd and the singer’s voice was off-key and raw enough to cause me actual discomfort. I mentally filed it under “thanks but no thanks” and put them out of my mind. Fast forward to May 11, 2005 and seeing Shearwater open for The Mountain Goats. Even if John Darnielle and company hadn’t put on a fantastic show (they did), I would have been quite satisfied – Shearwater really impressed live and on disc (I bought a copy of Shearwater at the show). I was aware of a connection between Shearwater and Okkervil River and since Okkervil’s latest Black Sheep Boy had been getting such good reviews, I ordered me up a copy of that, mostly unheard. And damn if it’s not excellent as well.
With all respect the the members of Okkervil and Shearwater who aren’t Will Sheff, I find the two acts to be somewhat interchangable (based on the one album of each I own) Update: And incorrectly so, apparently. Please refer to Kathryn’s comments below and, um, ignore my shoddy critical analysis. If you were to do a random play of both albums together, it’d still sound cohesive to me – both draw from Americana gothic/folk song traditions but neither are traditional sounding by any means. Sheff’s voice in both is rich, resonant and vulnerable, and perfectly suited to expressing his intricate and evocative lyricism. I’m having trouble figuring out why I couldn’t get into this a couple years ago – it seems like a no-brainer now. Ah well, better late than never. If I have to draw distinctions between the two projects, I’d say Shearwater is a little more delicate and late-night sounding, Okkervil more likely to get up and shout, but both tread a similar musical landscape. I couldn’t imagine liking one but not the other.
Here’s some audio (and video) – the mp3 for “A Makeover” is only 56kbps, but is far and away my favourite track off of Winged Life so I posted it anyway – Sheff’s Jonathan Meiburg’s Sheff’s voice suits the vocal melody so perfectly, it makes my head explode with joy. And representing Okkervil is “For Real”, complete with suitably creepy animated video and making-of feature. The first time I played Black Sheep Boy on my stereo, the big guitar stabs leading into the pre-chorus literally made me jump out of my seat. Played loud through a decent stereo, that will get your attention. There’s scads more media available at the respective band websites. And for reading, Lazy-I has an interview with Sheff in the Okkervil context.
MP3: Okkervil River – “For Real”
MOV: Okkervil River – “For Real”
MOV: Okkervil River – The recording of “For Real”
MP3: Okkervil River – “Black”
MP3: Shearwater – “A Makeover”
MP3: Shearwater – “The World In 1984”
KEXP recently had the band in for a radio session, some of which you can hear here (via Central Village) and more of which you can hear courtesy of Dreams Of Horses.
Between you and me, I’ve been sitting on this post for a while. So why am I finally getting around to finishing it up and publishing it? Okkervil River will be in Toronto at Lee’s Palace on November 7. Tickets $10 in advance. Excited about this one, obvs. It’s all about the topicality, man.
So, Liz Phair, I see you’ll be in town at the Phoenix on October 23. Oh, Liz. What happened? We used to be friends. But the last time we got together at the Guvernment, well that was just awkward. For both of us. I think it was your headset mic, to be honest. What’s up with that?
Torr reports that Idlewild’s Warnings/Promises has had its North American release date – which was supposed to be yesterday – pushed back to September 6. What’s up with that?
np – Bob Dylan / Biograph
Tuesday, August 16th, 2005
Pop (All Love) takes the prize for out-of-left-field topic for the week and declares The Charlatans “the most inconsequential band of any consequence”. I don’t know exactly why Aaron was in such deep contemplation about the Charlatans that he was able to reach that epiphany, but perhaps that’s exactly the point.
I like the Charlatans okay, but I don’t think I’d feel compelled to play devil’s advocate in this case. I started off with a copy of Melting Pot, their best-of comp (current through Tellin’ Stories) and enjoyed it enough to go out and get their entire back catalog. Which I didn’t enjoy enough to keep. I’m down to a handful of middle-period albums that almost never get played. Odds are I’ll eventually be right back to Melting Pot, if I can even be bothered to pick that up. It’s sort of like my Charlatans universe expanded and expanded till it hit its maximum size, and has now collapsed upon itself. I’m just glad it stopped before it turned into a black hole and wiped out my Chameleons and Chapterhouse discs along with it. I stopped paying attention around 2001’s remarkably boring Wonderland (the same album that set off Mr Wherry’s train of thought) and I think they’ve put out one or two more since then, as well as a solo album from Tim Burgess. Full marks for longevity, at least.
Behold – the video for the title track of Longwave’s new album, There’s A Fire. Longwave will be opening up a leg of the Doves’ Fall North American tour, including their Montreal show but not Toronto (we get VHS Or Beta). In an odd booking decision, the tour will hit Toronto’s Docks on September 30, two and a half weeks after the September 13 Montreal show. I guess those crazy Brits really enjoy the gentle ministrations of border guards…
Fluxblog offers his two cents on the new Belle & Sebastian biography, Just A Modern Rock Story. Verdict? Not enough dirt.
Leonard Cohen is broke. Poor Lenny. It’s a good thing he’s so zen about it.
The LA Times talks to Matador head honcho Chris Lombardi about the uncomfortable but necessary circumstance of indie labels getting into bed with the majors. Via Coolfler.
…And this is what we call a very slow day. If this were a sitcom, it would be a clips episode. But it’s not, so it’s not. I was working on some stuff that’s just not ready, so maybe tomorrow.
np – My Morning Jacket / At Dawn
Monday, August 15th, 2005
The LA Times has begun been running a periodic feature called the “Songwriters Series” where they sit down with an artist of note and discuss his or her creative process. And who better to inaugurate this feature than one Bob Dylan? The notoriously reclusive Mr Zimmerman continues to surprise with his newfound openness with the press by speaking openly about how he wrote classics such as “Like A Rolling Stone” (“I’m not thinking about what I want to say, I’m just thinking ‘Is this OK for the meter?'”), “Just Like A Woman (“It’s a city song. It’s like looking at something extremely powerful, say the shadow of a church or something like that.”) and “Blowin’ In The Wind” (“I wrote ‘Blowin’ in the Wind’ in 10 minutes, just put words to an old spiritual, probably something I learned from Carter Family records”). I love how even when he tries to explain himself, he manages to be just as cryptic as ever, if not moreso.
With the release of Martin Scorcese’s Dylan doc No Direction Home imminent (it airs on PBS on September 26 and 27 and is available on DVD on September 20. The soundtrack to the film, which is also volume 7 in Dylan’s Bootleg Series, is out August 30), The Independent takes a look at another long-lost Dylan film that rarely sees the light of day, Eat The Document, which was helmed by DA Pennebaker (director of another classic Dylan pic, Don’t Look Back) and Dylan himself.
Billboard reports that the upcoming Elvis Costello DVD collecting all his video clips along with a slew of TV performances will feature artist commentary for each video from Declan himself. One of the sharpest and wittiest figures in rock, Costello’s reminiscences will make The Right Spectacle: The Very Best of Elvis Costello – The Videos a must-own for fans. It’s due out September 6 in the UK with North American release details still to be sorted out.
The Boston Herald profiles Joe Pernice and reveals that work has begun on a film adaptation of his semi-autobiographical contribution to the 33 1/3 series of books, Meat Is Murder. Given that nothing much actually happens in the novella, I can only assume that the film will either a) be a low-budget, shot-on-DV arthouse indie flick or b) have many gratuitous car chases inserted for mainstream appeal. And I secretly hope for the latter. Via Largehearted Boy.
New York Daily News recaps Death Cab’s growth into the major leagues, and Ben Gibbard insists they’re not “Emo”.
American Music Club will be going on tour with Spoon in November – they call it a “North American tour”, which I can only hope includes a Toronto date. I went to Chicago last November to see them, it’s only fair they return the favour now. Related – Mark Eitzel’s newest solo release Candy Ass is out October 2 and his demos for AMC’s Love Songs For Patriots, recorded with Jay Bennett, have been collected as Demos Before Love Songs and will be released August 22. It’s available through their website.
np – Okkervil River / Black Sheep Boy
Sunday, August 14th, 2005
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The Juan Maclean / Less Than Human (Astralwerks)
I did a review of the LCD Soundsystem album a while back, basically summing it up as “this is the sort of thing that will surely appeal to people who are not me. Not offensive, but not my bag”. When I got a copy of The Juan Maclean’s debut album, I figured I could make with the CTRL-C/CTRL-V action and be done with it, what with the same DFA/Six Finger Satellite points of reference. I’m glad I didn’t, however, as this record is a considerably different ball of wax. It’s still a ball of wax, but it’s different. Far less vocal-oriented, The Juan Maclean offers up more interesting beats and general sonic goodies than LCD. While still perfectly danceable, it would also function quite well as a chill-out lounge soundtrack. While still not necessarily something that’s going to work its way into heavy rotation around these parts, I’d take it over LCD in a heartbeat. |
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The Charade / The Best Is Yet To Come (Skipping Stones)
Hailing from Sweden, The Charade play jaunty, upbeat indie pop of exactly the style you’d expect from a Swedish band called The Charade. Strummy acoustic guitars, plinky pianos, jangly electric guitars, twee-friendly boy-girl vocals, it’s all here. The Charade are a little longer in the tooth than you might expect for an act in this style, with guitarist Magnus Karlsson having kicked around as a professional musician since 1988, but age ain’t nothing but a number when you’ve got sunshiney pop music in your heart. If there’s any downside, it’s that if you’re a fan of this style of music, chances are you’ve already got shitloads of records that sound like this one. |
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Bedroom Walls (MySpace)
Los Angeles’ Bedroom Walls were brought to my attention by Gary, who took it upon himself to audit the audio samples of every band who attended SxSW this past March. A daunting feat by any standard – hell, I WENT and I couldn’t even be bothered to investigate everyone. Anyway, Bedroom Walls were one of his recommendations coming out of the exercise and after all that work, the least I could do was give a listen. Trading in a style the band has dubbed “romanticore”, they’ve got touches of glam, folk, chamber, pop and indie. Overall laid back and richly melodic, they manage to sound familiar and fresh at the same time. Nice stuff. They’ve got one full-length – I Saw You Coming Back To Me – an EP and a second album, All Good Dreamers Pass This Way, en route. There’s scads of downloads from on their website and MySpace page. |
np – Echo & The Bunnymen / Songs To Learn And Sing
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