Category Archives: Music

Art, Culture Jamming, Music, Politics

Band Spotlight: Tom Jefferson

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Top Album: The Declaration of Independence (1776) This is Tom at his finest; one incendiary motherfucker. Before he completely sold out with 1803’s corporate shilling Louisiana Purchase. No expansion my ass!

Top Lyrics: “Whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to institute new government.” and “A little rebellion now and then is a good thing… the tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.”

Chris

Music

CD Review: Album

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Minimalism
Album? Minimalism FTW

Band: Girls
Label: True Panther
Release: 2009

1. “Lust For Life” – 9.2
2. “Laura” – 9.0
3. “Ghostmouth” – 8.9
4. “Goddamn” – 7.7
5. “Big Bad Mean Motherfucker” – 9.6
6. “Hellhole Ratrace” – 9.2
7. “Headache” – 9.0
8. “Summertime” – 8.6
9. “Lauren Marie” – 8.4
10. “Morning Light” – 8.9
11. “Curls” – 8.2
12. “Darling” – 8.2

Comments: Girls!!! Omg! The whole internet is buzzing about Girls! Or maybe just a few “indie” sites here and there. But are they really deserving of the hype? Singer Christopher Owens has a (unique) voice that causes me to deeply wonder whether it is musically fit or semi-annoying. The melodies are there. Pretty damn awesome! Anthem-esque at times, sunshine poppy at others. A bit more obscure than say the Pains of Being Pure at Heart and maybe a bit more older sounding, but structurally there are similar elements between the two bands. “Big Bad Mean Motherfucker” is one heck of a song, reminding me a bit of the lo-fi throwback elements of Wavves and Black Lips. The album’s throwback nature is sort of funny and maybe a bit superfluous…making it sound like a Weird Al original. There are some boring spots towards the end. Overall, this album will be memorable in some way at some point down the line. If they crank out more “Big Bad” tunes then I see a shitload of potential.

Grade: 8.7

Art, Culture Jamming, Entertainment, Music

Concert Review: The Rifles

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John: Last night, I ventured with Glen and Paul to the Great Scott in Allston, Ma. We went to see the two amazing acts: Mike Fiore, of Faces on Film and the British indie band, The Rifles. Though this was my first time at the Great Scott, I could tell it was a slightly smaller, and a bit more intimate venue than that of the MidEast. But, I liked it.
The gig was amazing, though that goes without saying. Mike Fiore had very passionate, and at times depressing, lyrics. His voice was like that of a male angel, singing the travesties of life, love and the injustices of the world. I especially loved when he sang something to the effect of “before she left I would never need medicine.” Thought not many people were drawn to him, I was. I could never be able to perform by myself in front of a few people, let alone a group of one hundred or so; and so, I commend him for his bravery. Due to being the lesser known opening act, most weren’t crowding around him. They were all waiting for the Rifles.

Glen: Mike Fiore did go a bit under-appreciated. I recognized a few of his tunes, notably “I’ll Sleep To Protect You,” “The Medical Mind,” “The Winners Daughter,” and the classic closer “Natalie’s Numbers.” For an acoustic solo musician, he deserves a lot of credit. The Rifles surprised me in a number of ways. I didn’t anticipate such a lengthy set (17 songs including the two song encore). The Rifles played seven songs off of their top 10 album of 2009 The Great Escape and a number of songs from No Love Lost. There were clap-alongs, sing-alongs, requests…you name it. Amazing drumming, amazing guitar solos, amazing singing. “She’s Got Standards” stood out as did “Romeo and Julie,” with its catchy “woh-woh-woh-oh” bit. I’m definitely glad I ventured out to see this show. It goes down as amongst the best.

The Rifles Set List
1. “Science in Violence”
2. “She’s Got Standards”
3. “Repeated Offender”
4. “The Great Escape”
5. “Peace and Quiet”
6. “Out in the Past”
7. “History”
8. “Hometown Blues”
9. “Spend a Lifetime”
10. “Toerag”
11. “Robin Hood”
12. “When I’m Alone”
13. “The General”
14. “Local Boy”
15. “Romeo and Julie”
——
16. Encore #1
17. Encore #2

Music

EP Review: Higher Than The Stars

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More of the same has never been better!
More of the same has never been better!

Band: Pains of Being Pure at Heart
Label: Slumberland
Release: September 22, 2009

Comments: Pains of Being Pure at Heart, on this EP, are still the Pains of Being Pure at Heart we’ve always known and loved. For whatever reason, the Pains did not churn out hardcore poppy numbers a la their eponymous debut LP, but they did make a quality recording! “Higher Than The Stars” is the best song of the bunch, featuring barely audible vocals, a neat keyboard riff, and a straight ’80s guitar melody. “103” is heavier, perhaps the band’s best attempt at post-punk revival. “Falling Over” is structured around an awesome drum beat. “Twins” sounds like it belongs on the LP…and is just awesome on all levels! I highly recommend this EP to existing fans and to those who love good old fashioned twee!

Music

CD Review: Unmap

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Not a bad album, but hardly memorable.
Not a bad album, but hardly memorable.

Band: Volcano Choir
Label: Jagjaguwar
Release: September 22, 2009

1. “Husks and Shells” – 8.8
2. “Seeply Mouth” – 8.6
3. “Island, IS” – 9.0
4. “Dote” – 8.7
5. “And Gather” – 8.8
6. “Mbira In The Morass” – 8.2
7. “Cool Knowledge” – 7.5
8. “Still” – 8.9
9. “Youlogy” – 8.3

Description: (From Jagjaguwar)
Volcano Choir is an assembly of Wisconsinites Jon Mueller, Chris Rosenau, Jim Schoenecker, Daniel Spack, Justin Vernon, and Thomas Wincek. You might find these old friends also frequenting records and stages under different monikers, Collections of Colonies of Bees and Bon Iver. The collaboration predates the meteoric rise of Justin Vernon’s Bon Iver project, with original songwriting dating back to the summer of 2005, right around the time the Bees first toured with Vernon’s previous band DeYarmond Edison.

While entirely a studio record, the collection doesn’t suffer from the overburdens of a digital pile up or over-thinking. Rather it breathes and convulses in equal measure, radiating an inherent dynamism found only in the voluntary bondage of intimacy. With influences ranging from David Sylvian and Steve Reich to Mahalia Jackson and Tom Waits, it might be more accurate to say the group’s influence is music itself. You can hear it in the care and real love generously applied to each moment of Unmap. With the vibe of some intimate backwoods gospel, plus a spirit of patience and thoughtful repetition, the music of Volcano Choir is as dynamic as it is lovely.

Unmap ultimately came together over a weekend in November 2008 in Fall Creek, Wisconsin, at Justin and Nate Vernon’s recording studio. And while it is at its heart a record about the allure of being with people you need and making something with them, it is also a document created by musicians with rare gifts getting together to exorcise their ideas about beauty. This scaffolding of loops and off grid tempos for choral style vocals offers a state of continual surprise, call it unexpectation.

Unmap marks the debut full-length from Volcano Choir, the collaboration between Collections of Colonies of Bees and Justin Vernon of Bon Iver.

Grade: 8.5

Music, News

Tonight’s Show!

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As the concert calendar says I am attending a concert tonight. My third in six days and there’s nothing wrong with that!

The Rifles will be playing at the Great Scott. Seems like they embarked on a brief East Coast tour to coincide with the North American release of their latest album The Great Escape. I’ve been listening to that album for about a month straight, most every day. I’m excited to hear a lot of tracks off of it, but I also look forward to hearing some No Love Lost stuff, which  they played at the Berkeley Performance Center last September when they opened for Paul Weller. And guess who I just found out will be opening for The Rifles? None other than Mike Fiore! Not the WHS grad. I know…I think of him every time I hear the name too. Happens to us all. I’m talking Mike Fiore of Faces on Film. Uh huh, the same Faces on Film that I saw in January  opening for Mission of Burma.

My review of the Rifles from last year: Certainly one of the finest opening acts I’ve seen in my brief concert-attending journey. Reminiscent of The Libertines, The Cinematics, and The Jam, these guys truly rocked. Songs such as “Repeated Offender” and “Peace and Quiet” handled the group’s brief act. Combining pop elements and punk riffs, these songs (and more) came out as polished as you can expect for a band that is just starting to acquire fame. The crowd seemed especially impressed by “She’s Got Standards” — a revival of post-punk that sounds more 80s than 00s.

My review of Faces on Film from January: Faces on Film, a former comedy troupe from Boston, was, if you ask me, awesome live. I did hear a little FoF prior to the show, but I wasn’t so familiar that I instantly recognized any one particular song. When the first words (“your desperate children”) came out of singer Mike Fiore’s mouth, I instantly felt like I was listening to Connor Oberst. Fiore is a bit less emotional than Oberst, but his general folk vocal approach is enough to mention the similarity. Fiore was excellent sans his band (a few songs), but I thought the band added a nice element of instrumentation, warranting an almost immediate comparison to Hamilton Leithauser and his Walkmen. My favorite song of the less than one hour set was “I’ll Sleep to Protect,” off of FoF’s hit 2008 album The Troubles. A polished guitar riff, slick bass line, light drums, powerful keyboards, and Fiore’s “oh oh oh oh oh oh” all coalesced into a memorable four minutes.

Funny how I compared him to Ham.

Hopefully some pictures will be taken and all will be fun tonight!

Art, business, Culture Jamming, Entertainment, Femmes, Lists, Music

My Favorite Record Labels

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1) Sub Pop– No Age, Nirvana, Beat Happening, Mudhoney, Soundgarden, The Shins, Handsome Furs, Wolf Parade, The Vaselines, Iron and Wine, Modest Mouse, Rogue Wave, Sebadoh, The Jesus and Mary Chain, The Postal Service

2) SST– Black Flag, Meat Puppets, Dinosaur Jr, Sonic Youth, Bad Brains, Minutmen, Husker Du, Descendents, Soundgarden

3) Matador– Jay Reatard, Sonic Youth, Fucked Up, Cat Power, Mission of Burma, Yo La Tengo, Pavement, Interpol, Lou Reed

4) In the Red– Black Lips, Jay Reatard, King Khan & BBQ Show, Mark Sultan, Dirtbombs, Vivian Girls, Deadly Snakes- Nice, little label!

5) Vice– Black Lips, King Khan & The Shrines, Death From Above 1979, Fucked Up, The Raveonettes

6) Domino– Animal Collective, Arctic Monkeys, Lou Barlow, The Fall, Stephen Malkmus, Will Oldham aka Bonnie Prince Billy, Pavement, Elliott Smith,

7) Rough Trade– The Smiths, Arcade Fire, Galaxie 500, Beat Happening, Vaselines, Libertines, Babyshambles, Mabuses, Butthole surfers, The Moldy Peaches, The Raincoats, Sufjan Stevens, Stiff Little Fingers, The Strokes, The Veils,

8) Bomp!– Black Lips, The Stooges, The Germs, Dead Boys, Devo, Mark Sultan, The Modern Lovers, The Warlocks

9) K Records– Calvin Johnson, Beat Happening, Beck, Bikini Kill, Built to Spill, Kimya Dawson, Modest Mouse, Vaselines

10) Alternative Tentacles– Jello Biafra, Dead Kennedys, Mumia Abu-Jamal, Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn, D.O.A, Half Japanese, Butthole Surfers, The Crucifucks, Lard, Melvins, Wesley Willis

11) Touch and Go– Big Black, Rapeman, Shellac, Jesus Lizard, Scratch Acid, Butthole Surfers, Naked Raygun, The Rollins Band, TV On the Radio, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Urge Overkill

12) Dischord– Fugazi, Minor Threat, The Evens, The Teen Idles, The Nation of Ulysses, Scream

13) Fat Wreck Chords– Descendents, NOFX, Anti-Flag, Against Me!, Propagandhi, Rise Against

14) Epitaph– Bad Religion, Social Distortion, NOFX, Descendents, Green Day, Circle Jerks, Vandals, Converge, The Sounds of Animals Fighting,

15) Saddle Creek– Bright Eyes, Two Gallants, Tokyo Police Club, Cursive

16) Merge– Arcade Fire, Dinosaur Jr, Conor Oberst and the Mystic Vallye Band, … And You Will Know Us By the Trail of the Dead, Lou Barlow, Buzzcocks

I’m probably forgeting some. Oh well. Feel free to post suggestions.

Chris