Remuxed

The time for a new Muxtape is now.

01 El Guincho "Antillas"
02 The Lodger "Good Old Days"
03 My Morning Jacket "Aluminum Park"
04 Jeremy Jay "Alpharhythm"
05 Belbury Poly "The Hidden Door"
06 M83 "Up!"
07 Johan Agebjörn ft. Sally Shapiro "Spacer Woman from Mars"
08 Sian Alice Group "Motionless"
09 Chromatics "I'm On Fire" (Bruce Springsteen cover)

Listen.

Not Helpful

I was struck reading at work today how the Atlantic Monthly is kind of the mirror image of Reader's Digest. RD takes popular, vaguely conservative ideas or trends, repackages them into instantly comprehensible nuggets for a reader who will then feel informed but in an oddly limited fashion. The Atlantic takes the same ideas, puffs them into pieces far too long for their own good, packaging them together in such a way that the reader with several hours to spare will feel informed, but in an oddly limited fashion.

Both, then, achieve the same insidious goal of taking some portion of the ever-shrinking literate segment of the population and placing them on some sort of intellectual moving escalator-type illusion, apparently taking one step forward but actually propelled several steps back at the same time.

Upcoming Events, Jul 2008

June ends with a belated housewarming, the first time more than two people have been in my apartment since... the hot water got fixed back in March. And now I have Victoria's Secret bags for whatever reason I might need them!

Next month Northwest Film Forum starts their Hal Ashby series (The Landlord, Harold and Maude, The Last Detail, Shampoo, with more to come in August) which has either occasioned or been preceded by at least three pieces, in Good Magazine, Moving Image Source, and The Stranger. They'll also be showing My Neighbor Totoro and Profit Motive and the Whispering Wind, which I'm very excited about (profiled in Cinema Scope magazine).

Old movies! I've been lamenting the fact that Seattle offers fewer opportunities to engage with classic Hollywoood, but July presents not only the Seattle Art Museum's screwball comedy series (My Man Godfrey (!), If You Could Only Cook, Talk of the Town) but also Hitchcock's To Catch a Thief and Chaplin's Monsieur Verdoux, all pre-1960 at least. And I've still got to see Wall-E, which I suspect might contend for my favorite film this year based on the limited intelligence I've reconnoitered thus far, along with The Dark Knight, Alexandra (which I skipped at SIFF), and the hopefully hilarious Step Brothers.

Kode 9 plays Chop Suey, much of the Sub Pop roster plays Marymoor park in Redmond, and everyone who's anyone plays Pike Street, for the Capitol Hill Block Party, perhaps the greatest event of the year.

The SIBF is not to be forgotten. And the hapless Indians come to town to face the even more woeful Mariners. I may be the only Seattle resident at all interested in the series at this point, but then I guess can just surreptitiously upgrade to some really good seats.

Vulcan

While circumambulating the block during lunch today, I counted twelve different construction cranes visible in all directions. I wonder if there is another relatively lowlying block in the city that can see many more than that.

Untitled

Today at work I was listening to Explosions in the Sky and thinking to myself that the sound design is why I like The Earth Is Not a Cold Dead Place but not Those Who Tell the Truth... so much. In other words, the former is generally a pleasure to listen to moment to moment, whereas the latter mostly involves impatient waiting for climaxes or other points of interest.

Beyond that, while this stuff makes for great listening when you want to really overdose on crescendo and melodrama, as background music guitars and drums don't seem to make as much sense to me as synths, sequencers and laptops, simply because electronic music tends to rely so much more heavily on highly refined or processed tone and timbre and the quality of the individual sounds, and much less on volume or histrionics. EITS share certain similarities with a lot of the dance music I listen to, though: long tracks heavy on repetition and adding/subtracting the same elements more than once, or at least outside of a verse/chorus structure.

Evil Urges, Thoughts

A few comparisons to start: Listening to Yo La Tengo's I Am Not Afraid of You... today, they struck me as very similar to My Morning Jacket. Gentle and extremely good-humored, they can and have covered every song under the sun onstage. They generally tend toward the sonorous and sedate, but can destroy you with distortion and intensity if necessary, particularly on stage. They both have penchants for clever sounds and sometimes wordplay, such that the more intense or less forgiving fans likely get a bit annoyed. Appearances in movies, rather than just soundtracks, etc. Yo La Tengo, however, are fifteen years older, and seem to provide a pretty good template for a very good, long-lived career.

My Morning Jacket's career arc thus far is also not dissimilar from Wes Anderson's, at least in terms of how I view the both of them. They're both five releases in, both starting out with three consecutively bigger and arguably greater entries, largely building on each other, then taking a big enough left turn with the fourth to throw off some or many of the faithful, continuing on in a similar vein with the fifth but also yielding some more satisfying results--if not measured strictly by early expectations now somewhat thwarted.

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Purchasing the CD last week from Wall of Sound, the proprietor mentioned that it was pretty different from their previous stuff, also lamenting the lack of reverb and suggesting that it was the temptation to be radio-friendly leading them astray. (Tomorrow's NY Times article suggests that radio is indeed a bit frustrated with them, but that James & co. aren't terribly concerned.) As he operates a fiercely independent record store, few have more right to question a band's commercial leanings, but I'm not totally sure I agree. There are lots of reasons to get out from behind the wall of reverb, if perhaps none are totally excusable. At the same time, previous to some patches over the past couple years, these guys spent most of a decade touring relentlessly, absolutely exploding each and every night, so I really have no problem if they were attempting to sell a few more records.

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It would indeed be sad if the band and Jim James never return to the reverberating silo, either literally or figuratively, but that gets at one of the core issues in music or any artistic sort of appreciation. Is the artist bound by a kind of law to repeat what he does best? Is it a sin to sound experimental yet mundane when routine heavenliness is attainable? Would it be more admirable to create new, less than blissful work, or to create none at all? Just what kind of authority does audience/critical opinion have in the work of the artist, if any? In terms of sales figures, quite a lot obviously, but I'm thinking more in terms of some sort of cosmic obligation. Would it be a punishable offense if, for whatever bizarre reason, Lebron James declared that he'd grown beyond slam dunks? (Jim James quote on life goals from the NYT: "Maybe I want to be a better basketball player.") Does the fan have any obligation in return for mindblowing services rendered in the past?

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Has William Bowers written anything on this album? Is it the best thing ever? Most of what I've seen written on this album is not just disappointing, but more indicative of the failings of rock writing in general. It's either narrow-mindedly critical, or weak and slavish praise, never really engaging appropriately with the sounds on the record, at least in ways that I find interesting or fulfilling. Discussions of lyrics and personal genre preferences may have their place, but that place ought to hardly ever be a large or important one.

Q: Who really loves Z, and what are they thinking? How many of those songs run through your mind? Are you excited when they do?

This gets at precisely why I like Evil Urges and didn't like Z. The primary My Morning Jacket experience is still live, and therefore the mark of a great album from them is not how it sounds, but how the parts will sound, expanded, on stage, and correspondingly how that experience will suffuse your listening back at home for the months and perhaps years after.

Z had possibly two to three songs that fit this bill. Evil Urges may have as many as eight. Most importantly, vocal hooks are everywhere. Vocal hooks are earworms that will satisfy and sustain you even and especially when you're not listening to the record much less at the show. Z failed miserably at this. "Gideon" and "Anytime" sometimes run through my head, but not often, and it's actually a struggle to recall a lot of whatever else I may enjoy on there. I'm not sure I like "Evil Urges" on record, but the vocal hook sounds great in my head. I really like "Touch Me I'm Going to Scream, Part 2" on record, and it sounds even more awesome recalling it later. Oh, and that bit near the end where the low guitar roars in? Amazing. "Smokin from Shootin" is maybe not so great in my head, but it will destroy on stage. "I'm Amazed" is a bit boring in this regard, but at least it's not "Off the Record." "Aluminum Park" could cause riotous outpourings of joy.

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This is not a great album (apart from perhaps the final third), and I don't think these guys can ever make one, because the impossible-to-fully-recreate live experience hovers over anything from the studio. In my opinion, it would have to be some kind of trackless double album where they play nonstop for two-and-a-half hours and James simply improvises over top of their jamming, creating themes and motifs which recur and then magically combine into like, a single five-minute wall of pure but strangely sonorous noise at the end, after which the recording emits a secret frequency which induces coma, from which the listener awakes several hours later with only delicious half-memories of the experience. That would be the only way that I could imagine being fully satisfied by a My Morning Jacket album completely on its own terms. Anything else basically provides new fodder for obsession while biding time until the next tour.

First Half 2008 Music

Bon Iver: For Emma, Forever Ago [Jagjaguwar]
Caribou: She's the One EP [Merge]
El Guincho: Alegranza [Discoteca Océano]
Fleet Foxes: Sun Giant EP [Sub Pop]
Fleet Foxes: Fleet Foxes [Sub Pop]
Vampire Weekend: Vampire Weekend [XL]

These are the cream of my crop, with the Bon Iver head and shoulders over everything else. That record inspires the rare feeling of anticipation for each track, every single time I hear it. Like, at the beginning of each, since they generally tend to fade in quietly, I slowly recognize it and get excited, even though I did so for the last song and the one before it.

Re: Fleet Foxes, the EP was a bit of a surprise for me, but the album sounds exactly like what I was hoping for from what I'd heard early on. The Caribou single I've mentioned previously, and Alegranza is almost exactly what I was hoping last year's Panda Bear album would sound like, from early reviews and "Comfy in Nautica," but then I never really got on board with that one. El Guincho's is some kind of crazy sampladelic Spanish party record that just won't quit.

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Animal Collective: Water Curses EP [Domino]
Black Mountain: In the Future [Jagjaguwar]
Bruno Pronsato: Why Can't We Be Like Us? [Hello? Repeat]
Four Tet: Ringer [Domino]
Fuck Buttons: Street Horrrsing [ATP]
Hercules and Love Affair: Hercules and Love Affair [DFA]
Junior Boys: Body Language, Vol. 6 [Get Physical]
My Morning Jacket: Evil Urges [ATO]
She & Him: Vol. One [Merge]
These New Puritans: Beat Pyramid [Domino]

Mostly I would consider all these to be very nice. Fuck Buttons, my favorite new live act of the year, are coming back with Mogwai in September. Hercules and Love Affair may be growing on me, or it may just be pleasant; not sure if it's addictive just yet. I listened the She & Him record just about to death back in March and it took a while for me to recover. Still not sure if it's as good as I originally thought it was, but still fine. The Shocking Pinks album/compilation from last year would be a strong entry if it weren't so... 2007.

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Grand Archives: The Grand Archives [Sub Pop]
Hot Chip: Made in the Dark [Astralwerks]
Melchior Productions: No Disco Future [Perlon]
Sally Shapiro: Remix Romance, Vol. 1 [Paper Bag Records]

Had really high expectations all around here. Hot Chip are always spotty, both brilliant and maddening, but they're possibly less charming than they've been in the past. I haven't heard Remix Romance too much but there don't seem to be many improvements on Johan Agebjörn's original work, which maybe shouldn't be surprising. At first I'm pretty sure I was big into No Disco Future, but my last couple listens have been less than satisfying. I'll have to give it a few more chances over the next month or so. "Sleepdriving" is maybe the only Grand Archives song I really like.

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Atlas Sound: Let the Blind Lead... [Kranky]
Beach House: Devotion [Carpark]
The Black Keys: Attack and Release [Nonesuch]
Blood on the Wall: Liferz [The Social Registry]
Crystal Castles: Crystal Castles [Last Gang]
Cut Copy: In Ghost Colours [Modular/Interscope]
M83: Saturdays = Youth [Mute]
Truckasauras: Tea Parties, Guns and Valor [Fourthcity]

Not sure about anything here just yet.

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Black Angels: Directions to See a Ghost [Light in the Attic]
Gas: Nah und Fern box set [Kompakt]
Jamie Lidell: Jim [Warp]
Los Campesinos!: Hold On Now, Youngster... [Arts & Crafts]
Matmos: Supreme Balloon [Matador]
No Age: Nouns [Sub Pop]
Sian Alice Group: 59.59 [The Social Registry]
Sera Cahoone: Only as the Day Is Long [Sub Pop]
Sigur Ros: Album #5 [XL]
Sun Kil Moon: April [Caldo Verde]
Wolf Parade: At Mount Zoomer [Sub Pop]

Haven't really heard any of these yet. Sigur Ros did not impress upon my first listen at their site. Both Sera Cahoone and Los Campesinos played great sets over the past month. Simon Reynolds and Mark Richardson have boosted my hopes for Gas just devastatingly high, so hopefully they can be overcome.

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"Singles are the lifeblood of dance music, but they get curiously little exposure outside of clubs. Specialist mags, websites like Resident Advisor and a few dedicated blogs like Little White Earbuds keep the flag flying, but for casual fans it can be almost impossible to keep track of what's happening in house and techno."
- Philip Sherburne

And I really have been listening to too many guitars and lyrics (read: safe and easy stuff) this year, so between These New Puritans at Chop Suey on June 16 and the Sub Pop 20th Anniversary festival July 12-13, rock music (and folk/country/etc.) and rock writing (unless it's in The Wire) are going out the window.

Odds & Ends

SIFF is going well, even though I haven't been posting anything on it. (I don't really have time, as I'm always going to, at, or returning from a movie.) You can complain with good reason about the enormity and the corresponding glut of mediocre stuff at SIFF, but with a lot of research and hours poring through the guide, it's possible to re-program a pretty solid mini-festival.

That said, I feel somehow that I haven't really had time to think, or at least let my brain work subconsciously, over the past few weeks, what with the sustained moviegoing, Sasquatch, and so forth. This became particularly apparent when I left my phone in the break room at work long enough for someone to find it and bring it to the front desk, on the same day that I'd already left something else in there on a previous visit.

Adding some bands to the MySpace profile, I started to get really excited about Beachwood Sparks playing at Marymoor Park next month. Given that I've been listening to a lot of guitar-based, folky, retro stuff this year, these guys should really hit the spot even though it's been quite a while since I listened much to either of the albums.

There should be three massive posts (that aren't this one) coming soon. One on music thus far into the year, one of musings more or less concerning the new My Morning Jacket album and thoughts its release has spurred, and one on SIFF, though I'll also break that down into individual postings for the the film blog. I also haven't been listening as much, or as intentionally, to a lot of electronic and/or dance music this year, and I've been neglecting reading things that aren't on a screen, so hopefully those will dovetail after Sunday when I'm no longer out and about for at least three hours a night.

And while it still feels like early spring here in Seattle (and not the nice part, either) it is apparently hot and quite flooded in Iowa. I'll take festival films over sandbagging any day.