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Archive for the ‘Smashing Pumpkins’ Category

Margaret Atwood–“Underbrush Man” (The Guardian, November 7, 2011)

Posted in Canadian Content, Dinosaur Jr., Dogs, Funny (ha ha), Margaret Atwood, Marriage Trouble, My Bloody Valentine, Mystery, Nirvana, Short Story, Smashing Pumpkins, Sonic Youth, Teenage Fanclub, The Guardian, The Smiths, Yuck on February 1, 2012| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: YUCK-Yuck (2011).

If you’re like me, you love alt-rock from the 90s, however that may be described.  Typically, we’re talking loud guitars, but we’re also talking shoegazer music and alt folk and basically anything that might have appeared at Lollapalooza.

Yuck is like comfort food for anyone starved for new music from that ear.  There’s hardly anything new or original in it, but it sounds great.  It’s fun to play spot the influences (Dinosaur Jr. Nirvana, melodic Sonic Youth), but it’s more fun to just sit back and listen.

When the first song, “Get Away” opens up with that phased, distorted guitar I’m instantly transported back to the 90s.  And then when the solo begins (before the verse) it’s like adding screaming punk to shoegaze.  Blissful.

“The Wall” sounds like yet another style of 90s alt rock, with some more screaming guitars.  Then comes “Shook Down” in which the band slows down with acoustic guitars (think Teenage Fanclub).  It’s a little slow, but there’s a surprise third part which adds some wonderful distorted guitars to the song.

“Holing Out” brings a more punk edged guitar sound to the album (still distorted just edgier).  “Suicide Policeman” is a pretty straightforward folk rock song: acoustic guitars and whatnot and it never really rocks out.  The nice part is when the second, electric guitar plays slow wobbly chords over the top (think The Smiths).

“Georgia” rips right into a My Bloody Valentine song (female harmonies over washes of guitars).  This is the first song that I don’t love.  It’s got something to do with the chrous.  The verses are great, but the chorus is just a little too…blah.  But I love the sound of the song.

“Suck” is probably my least favorite song on the disc.  It’s really really slow and drags a bit.  Although, amusingly this song stays in my head the longest, especially the line “did you see the fire briagde.”  Maybe I secretly like it best

“Stutter” continues this slow mood–I think I like these songs individually, but they drag down this section of the album when played together like this.

Because when “Operation” bursts back, the album picks up (more great use of little guitar solos-think Smashing Pumpkins).  “Sunday” does the My Bloody Valentine thing much better–great chorus on this one.  Amusingly the verses are not very MBV-sounding at all, but it’s a nice blend.

“Rose Gives a Lilly” is an instrumental and, although it’s nothing amazing, it’s still nice.  The disc ends with “Rubber” a 7 minute retro blast.  It’s a slow builder, with big distorted guitars (the vocals are almost inaudible).  Just add more and more layers of guitar over the melody and you’ve got a great album ender.

It’s nice to see a band absorb influences rather than just aping them.

[READ: January 27, 2012] “Underbrush Man”

Once I saw Mohsid’s story in The Guardian, it was just a quick look to see that Margaret Atwood had a story there too!

I really enjoy Atwood’s stories, and this one is no exception.  But this one was rather unexpected for me because it begins with the point of view of a dog.  There are actually four points of view in this story.  I was delighted that the first two were more or less the same, that the third one was unexpectedly unrelated to the action and then the final one cleared everything up.

But we start with a dog. (more…)

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Marc Watkins–“Two Midnights in a Jug” (Boulevard, Spring 2009)

Posted in Adam Goldberg, Boulevard, Craig Ferguson, David Bowie, Drugs, Late Late Show, Marc Watkins, Radiohead, Religion, Sex, Short Story, Smashing Pumpkins, The Beatles, The Goldberg Sisters, Toilets, Yuck! on January 11, 2012| 3 Comments »

This is not the right cover for the issue. I couldn't find it online!

SOUNDTRACK: THE GOLDBERG SISTERS-The Goldberg Sisters (2011).

I don’t often make lists of “Best” records or anything like that.  But I’m making an exception for this.  This was easily the best album that I had low expectations for.  That sounds like half a compliment but it’s not.  I really didn’t expect much from this album when Adam Goldberg promoted it on Craig Ferguson’s show.  But when I checked out the video for “Shush” I was really impressed.  So I bought the CD.

And I have to say that it is really, really good. 

I need to get this out of the way because it will influence the whole write up otherwise.  Adam Goldberg is an actor, a very good, very funny actor.  And this is just one of his music projects.  It was not an entirely solo affair, but Goldberg plays guitar, piano, harmonium, keyboards, key sitar and melodica.  And of course, he sings as well.  I was more or less expecting an at-home-sounding demo, maybe, or some standard rock-n-roll like many other side projects.  But the album is lush and full, complete with cool psychedelic effects on certain tracks and there’s even clever wordplay. 

Goldberg has a soothing, slightly feminine singing voice (I would not have expected that from his speaking voice).  And his backing vocalists really complement him well. 

The disc opens with “The Room” a simple acoustic guitar and a very nice complementary piano (which reminds me of some of Radiohead’s acoustic moments).  The long instrumental ending is quite intense.  “Mother Please (The World Is Not Our Home)” has questionable lyrics, but a really great sound.  There’s cool spoken words deep in the mix, which bring a creepy effects to the song.  It runs very long, but there’s lots of parts and a cool coda.

“Shush” is still outstanding after all of these listens.  It has a kind of Bowie/Beatles/90’s revival of same feel.  This kind of song only works if the production is right, and Goldberg’s is perfect.  “Don’t Grow” opens with cool fiddle strings and Goldberg’s slightly sinister whispered vocals.  It’s 7 minutes long (see, psychedelic) and features a really pretty denouement with tinkling pianos and everything.

“You’re Beautiful When You Die” is a weird little interlude–muffled piano and dark, dark lyrics.  I could probably do without it, but it’s only 2 minutes so I’ll deal.  It’s made up for by “Erik Erikson” a great rocking acoustic number that reminds me of The Smashing Pumpkins (in vocal style). 

“Third Person” returns to that Beatles-y style with a folk song with full instrumentation.  And “The Difference Between” has some cool backing vocals which elevate this simple piano based song into something more.  “Skin of the Patriot” is a slow piano ballad.  It’s not my favorite song on the disc, but it leads into the wonderfully upbeat ender “The Heart Grows Fonder” (which features a surprising and surprisingly effective melodica solo).  It runs about five minutes (of an 11 minute track).  The ending 90 seconds are a goofy riff on The Beatles’ “Revolution.” 

So overall this album is really enjoyable.  There’s one or two misfires and it could use a wee bit of editing, but man, am I glad I bought this.  And I can’t wait to see what Goldberg does next.

Watch the Ferguson bit here (wait for the hilarious awkward pause at 10:30)

Find out more at his wonderfully named website: Adam Goldberg Dillettante.

[READ: January 6, 2012] “Two Midnights in a Jug”

This is the final individual story that Karen Carlson recommended to me (the rest are all in anthologies that I’ll have to check out).  She writes: “Because it’s a grim, tough read, it might take a second read to get past the oppressive weight and find the delicate art. And it doesn’t hurt to look into the background of the writer a bit; he isn’t writing about these people by accident. A little Willie Nelson might work [for the soundtrack].”

Karen’s comments sound a little defensive!  But I admit I was pretty turned off in the beginning of the story.  I’ll also admit a personal bias of mine is that I don’t really like to read stories about the rural poor or folks in the Ozarks.  I know, it’s not very nice, but it’s true. 

So, this story is set there.  And it opens with just about every stereotype I hate about the region: single wide trailer that borders a hog farm, neon orange muumuus, coon hunting and a repossessed house.  Things are even worse than my stereotypes though, because the plumbing is unconnected and their toilet sits over a bucket.  Which they cover with lime after every use and which they have to empty daily.  Good god.

Oh and the hog farm?  They had so much hog shit that they decided to burn it.  Well, the fire has been raging for a month.  And the only thing worse than the smell of hog shit is the smell of burning hog shit.  And the only thing worse than burning hog shit is having the ashes from the hog shit fall onto your property and into your trailer every day for a month. 

Oh yeah, and Cordell, the man of the trailer, accidentally shot their hound, Trixie last time he was hunting.  She’s okay but had to have a leg removed.  Jee.  Sus.

I seriously almost stopped reading. (more…)

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Zadie Smith–3 book reviews (Harper’s, March 2011)

Posted in All Songs Considered, Beck, Blur, Book Reviews, Cornershop, Harper's, Harvey Danger, Javier Marias, Jeff Buckley, Johnny Cash, Lauren Hill, Missy Elliot, My Bloody Valentine, Nine Inch Nails, Nirvana, PJ Harvey, Portlandia, Sebadoh, Sharifa Rhodes-Pitts, Smashing Pumpkins, Thomas Bernhard, Zadie Smith on March 9, 2011| 1 Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: The 90’s Are Back, Or Whatever… NPR.  (2011).

This is a 90 minute podcast about the music of the 90s.  And, of course, it opens with “The Dream of the 90s” from Portlandia.

I don’t listen to too many full discussions on the All Songs Considered site, but since the 90s were definitely my favorite era of music, I thought it was worth a listen.  Incidentally, it’s funny that the 90s are so meaningful to me when, really I should be a child of the 80s.  But in reality, my 80s music was mostly heavy metal, because I hated all pop radio then.

This radio show (available for free download here) features four NPR music geeks talking about the music they loved during the 90s.  There are some obvious points (“Smells Like Teen Spirit,” “1979,” “Song 2,” “Loser”), but some unexpected songs as well: “Grace” (Jeff Buckley), “Long Snake Moan” (PJ Harvey).  And of course, probably the biggest surprise: Sebadoh’s “Soul and Fire as “song of the decade.”

The hosts have a lot of fun with bad songs (severe bashing on Collective Soul or hilariously cueing up “Can’t Touch This” to punk one of the speakers when they are talking about Missy Elliot–yup, it’s not all alt rock, Missy Elliott and Lauren Hill crop up along with Johnny Cash and Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan).

But let’s not forget my perennial favorite from Cornershop: “Brimful of Asha.”  And, yes, My Bloody Valentine.

These days, when I do listen to the radio, I find that the stations I prefer tend to play a lot of 90s songs, but it’s surprising to me how infrequently they play some of these really big artists (I hear a lot of Harvey Danger, but no My Bloody Valentine).  It’s funny that one of the songs they talk about, Len’s “Steal My Sunshine” I actually heard coming out of a radio at a pool while on vacation in Florida this past January (!?!).

It’s a fun segment and makes me think that although I do like a lot of new music, I’m a gonna hafta retire to Portland.

P.S. Stay till the end of the show for the hilarious impersonation of Trent Reznor.

[READ: February 17, 2011] 3 book reviews

Zadie Smith is an author whose output I fully intend to ingest one of these days.  So I figured why not read a few of her book reviews, too.

Smith reviews three new titles: Harlem is Nowhere: A Journey to the Mecca of Black America, by Sharifa Rhodes-Pitts; My Prizes by Thomas Bernhard; and While the Women are Sleeping by Javier Marías.

I’m intrigued by her review of Harlem is Nowhere.  She seemed to be rather critical of the author, especially of her mannerisms: like calling James Baldwin’s “habit of speaking to Harlem folk, having experiences, and deriving from these encounters “a metaphor about all of black existence”–“The Jimmy.”  (where others might have simply called it “writing”).  Or the fact that the author describes herself as a “single girl” as if that has anything to do with anything.

The second half of the review concedes that once you abandon wanting to known anything precise about historical Harlem, it’s a lovely book.  Smith revels in learning about James VanDerZee, Raven Chanticleer and Alexander Gumby (and her enthusiasm makes me want to investigate this book, if not their own works).

So, despite initial criticisms, she ends the review very positively and gives a thumbs up to the work. (more…)

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