Willie Nelson - "Just Breathe"

 

A month ago, we went to the Outlaw Music Festival in Va Beach.  It was an outstanding lineup: Allison Krauss & Robert Plant, Bob Dylan, and Willie Nelson.   Unfortunately, Willie Nelson was sick and while he was originally projected to return to the tour in time for the Va Beach show, he did not join until the next show on the tour.  I missed a chance to see Willie Nelson in Norfolk in 2008, and I had hoped this would be a chance to make up for that.  He's 91, so realistically my chances of seeing him live are running out.

Allison Krauss and Robert Plant were the opening act, and were definitely the highlight of the show -- we would definitely see them again.  For example, their interpretation of "When the Levee Breaks" was darker, more predatory and menacing that Led Zeppelin's version.  Drew had seen them a couple of times before, so I sort of knew what to expect, but they exceeded my expectations and we would definitely see them again.

I saw Bob Dylan once in college (ca. 1988) and he's not exactly a showman.  I mostly enjoyed his show here, even though he purposefully did some of his most obscure songs. His set fit the bar room, honky tonk aesthetic of this tour, but I certainly would have appreciated at least a couple more of his classics.  

Since Willie was still too ill to perform, Lukas played his set.  He looks and sounds like a lot like his father, and they made the best of the situation.  We enjoyed the set, but we couldn't quite shake the feeling that we were watching a Willie Nelson tribute band.  

Even with the limitations, we enjoyed the concert and it was an evening well-spent (even though it was a million degrees).  But the song that I am choosing to mark the event is not one that they performed, but one that we heard in between sets.  It is a cover of Pearl Jam's 2009 "Just Breathe", a single from their 2009 LP "Backspacer", a late-career "hit" for Pearl Jam that I always enjoyed.  I did not know until that evening that Willie Nelson and Lukas Nelson did this as a duet for Willie's 2012 LP "Heroes".  It's a great song, and they turn in an inspired cover, and I could not help but think of Johnny Cash's work with Rick Rubin.  

Pearl Jam: Just Breath (studio), Live at Austin City Limits (2009)

Willie Nelson (Featuring Lukas Nelson): Just Breathe (studio), Live at Farm Aid (2012)

Taylor Swift - "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" (spotlight)

Earlier this week Taylor Swift came off the sidelines and endorsed a political candidate, something that she has not done in the past.  Given that a large percentage of her country music fan base is surely conservative, this is a significant act for her.  And she did not mince words either:

As much as I have in the past and would like to continue voting for women in office, I cannot support Marsha Blackburn. Her voting record in Congress appalls and terrifies me. She voted against equal pay for women. She voted against the Reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act, which attempts to protect women from domestic violence, stalking, and date rape. She believes businesses have a right to refuse service to gay couples. She also believes they should not have the right to marry. These are not MY Tennessee values. I will be voting for Phil Bredesen for Senate and Jim Cooper for House of Representatives. 

 In other words, Taylor Swift just said to Marsha Blackburn and the GOP:

You go talk to your friends, talk to my friends, talk to me
But we are never ever, ever, ever getting back together

Good for her; apparently she's had an impact.  I don't know if it will be enough, but the time to be coy about who and what you support is over.  Predictably, she's been added to the list of things the GOP doesn't like: LeBron James, the NFL, Ford Motor Company, Harley Davidson, Nike, Levi's, Willie Nelson, and now Taylor Swift.  And while America is more than the sum of various companies and celebrities, as the list grows longer one can't help but think that what the GOP really dislikes is, in fact, America. 

"We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" is a single from her 2012 LP, "Red".

Taylor Swift - "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together"

Andy Stott - "Luxury Problems" (LP Review)

For a while I've been searching for the words to describe Andy Stott's 2012 release "Luxury Problems".  His two 2011 EPs, "Passed Me By" and "We Stay Together", are darkly mesmerizing but "Luxury Problems" represents a significant step forward.  There's still the vast, rich, looming soundscapes that Stott paints that only occasionally veer into the realm of conventional song structures (the title track being perhaps being the closest thing to a "song"), but the thing that really sets this LP apart is the expert sampling of Alison Skidmore's vocals that give this LP a Julee Cruise / Elizabeth Fraser aesthetic while at the same time crafting a unique sound.  The result is an angelic touch to an otherwise menacing, bleak movie soundtrack where Skynet is the hero instead of the villain. 

The professional reviews are more eloquent (Pitchfork, Allmusic, Tiny Mix Tapes), but words are ultimately insufficient. 

Standout songs: all of them. 

Skip 'em songs: none.

Final Score: 10/10, including the rare "beyond music" label. 

Waxahatchee - "American Weekend" (LP Review)

"Crave, desolate, you dive in, we follow along.
I contrive you with whiskey and Sam Cooke songs
and we lay on our backs, soaking wet
below a static TV set.
Conversation flows, counting shooting stars and catfish,
but I'll never make a wish."

After I don't know how many listens, I still get chills from the opening lines to "Catfish", the first song on Waxahatchee's debut LP "American Weekend".  I did not discover Waxahatchee until the release of the release of "Cerulean Salt" a year later, and then made my way back to "American Weekend".  All the hipsters know the story by now, but here's the short version in case you don't: twins Katie & Allison Crutchfield were in the cleverly named (but terminally underground) band P.S. Eliot.  When they broke up in 2011, Allison formed Swearin', and Katie recorded as Waxahatchee during an extended retreat to her parent's lake house on Waxahatchee Creek, essentially off the grid and far away from everything. 

The result is an intimate, confessional, lo-fi masterpiece.  I  know I've overused the reference to Liz Phair's "Girlysound" tapes, but in this case the reference is unavoidable (and I'm not the only one, see this Pitchfork review).  (I suppose I could also compare it to the "Texas Campfire Tapes", but those references have gone out of style now that Michelle Shocked is a self-hating traitor.)  I know the idea of a solo, acoustic, coffee house, autobiographical, neo-hippie, female folk singer is a 3rd stage Lilith Fair cliche, but trust me: Katie's different.  There is an unpretentious, wrenching, earnest, piercing sincerity that transcends the sparse, almost harsh recording.  Where Liz channeled a battle-of-the-sexes anger borrowed from early Pat Benatar, the villain in Katie's songs is Katie: paralyzed with self-doubt and a millennial-flavored self-absorption.  Despite this, and the fact that I'm nearly old enough to be her father, the music connects with me, in part because Katie's provided a universal soundtrack for awkward, early 20s relationships (e.g., I'd like to imagine a particular college relationship-but-not-quite-girlfriend addressing me in the manner of "Bathtub" and "Grass Stain").

But it's not just romantic relationships that are the subject of Katie's songs.  "Rose, 1956" is her attempt to fathom the difference in her reality and that of her grandmother (?):

Sharp hangover, it is Christmas Eve.
It fades and evaporates passing the trains and lakes and trees.
Your breaths are short and urgent and it is unsettling.
Cause you got married when you were 15, 15.

Now I hide out from telephone wires at Waxahatchee Creek.
Your body, weak from smoke and tar and subsequent disease.
You got married when you were 15, 15.

More insight about Katie and Waxahatchee can be found in this interview with Pitchfork.  I can say more about this LP, but then it would be more about me and less about Katie/Waxahatchee.

Since there are no bad song on the LP and quite a few live versions on the web, I'm changing the format a bit:

Standout songs:

• "Catfish" -- studio, live in Asheville NC
• "Grass Stain" -- studio, live for NME, live in Cohoes NY
• "Rose, 1956" -- studio, live in London
• "Michel" -- studio, live in Asheville NC, live in OK City
• "Be Good" -- studio, live in Kansas City MO
• "Bathtub" -- studio, live for NPR, live in Lake Worth FL
• "I Think I Love You" -- studio, live for Wichita Recordings, live for NPR, live for last.fm/Gibson  
• "Noccalula" -- studio, live at 2013 SXSW 

Final score: 9/10.  I reserve the right to adjust this upwards in the future.

And to close out the review, here are the closing lyrics to "Catfish".  As Danette pointed out, all of the songs "sweat" with subtle Southern cultural references.  Although not really the point of this song, it provides color in a way that only those familiar with sticky, Southern nights can appreciate:

We stick to our slow motion memory.
It's 1 in the morning and 90 degrees
and though now it is hovering darkly over me,
it'll look just like heaven when I get up and leave.
You're a ghost
and I can't breathe.

Blackstreet - "No Diggity" (the song remains the same)

This post is for Danette, who absolutely loves the song "No Diggity" from Blackstreet's 1996 LP "Another Level".  I'm not going to save it for a birthday post for her for obvious reasons: the song is about a guy in love with a prostitute because of her technical proficiency and voracity*. 

I was reminded of this song recently when I heard the 2012 cover by Chet Faker from his EP "Thinking in Textures".  I'm pretty sure I had seen the Ed Sheeran version before, but that doesn't come close to the smooth, downtempo version that Faker turns in.  The Faker version also has some interesting percussion towards the end, with the drums emulating the piano (?) sample from the original. 

Blackstreet - "No Diggity"
Chet Faker - "No Diggity" (live version)
Ed Sheeran - "No Diggity"
and for completeness #1: "Pitch Perfect" - "No Diggity"
completeness #2: Bill Withers - "Grandma's Hands" (which Blackstreet sampled for "No Diggity")

* If you read the lyrics I guess it is just a coarser version of The Police's "Roxanne".  Yet I can't help but think about the Chris Rock routine "I Love Rap Music" -- "He Ain't Talking About Me!" (video).

We Were Promised Jetpacks - "Live in Nashville, 2012-03-29" (concert)

Following on from the previous review of "These Four Walls", I wanted to share this excellent hour-long concert video of We Were Promised Jetpacks.  There is no shortage of live videos of WWPJ on Youtube, but I especially like this one camera shoot of their March 29, 2012 show in Nashville.  With only minimal panning or zooming, it nicely complements the "jeans & t-shirt" lo-fi sound of the band. 

The band itself is in fine form, reworking many of the songs with a different sound from the LP versions while still sounding crisp.  For example, they offer a completely different and extended version of "A Half Built House", this time serving as an intro to "Keeping Warm" (starting at about 17:10).  There is even a nice bit of (nearly) a capella singing at about 38:10 (I'm not sure of the song (edit: it's "Sore Thumb" from "In the Pit of the Stomach").



Thanks to palabra17 and exitin for sharing this.

Andy Stott - "Moogfest 2012" (concert)

I've mentioned Andy Stott before (in this DJ Shadow review), but I haven't reviewed any of his material yet.  Part of that is because I'm at a complete loss for words on how to describe his music; "electronic" fails to capture the depth and richness.   Herbert turned me on to Andy Stott almost two years ago (with the two 2011 EPs "Passed Me By" and "We Stay Together") and he's been climbing my iTunes playlist since. 

NPR Music has an hour long live recording of Andy Stott playing at Moogfest, 2012-10-31 in Asheville, NC.  NPR Music also provides a direct link for an MP3.  Until I find the words to describe his music, I urge you to check out this concert.  I haven't worked out the set list yet (and it isn't listed anywhere on the web), but it includes songs from the two EPs mentioned above as well as his 2012 LP "Luxury Problems".

Links: NPR Music, Soundcloud

Houndmouth - "Houndmouth" (LP Review)

To borrow from the Tappet Brothers, the last several reviews have been "classic", and by "classic" I mean "old".  Time for something contemporary...

"Houndmouth" is the eponymous 2012 debut by the Indiana-based band, Houndmouth.  This four song EP successfully mines the alt-country, folk, blues, roots music genres: there's not necessary anything new on this EP, but they execute it very well.  Lisa (via Herbert) actually turned me on to this band, kindly dropping the CD in the mail to me a few months ago. 

If you're going to do country music, you need a song about going to jail.  Just in case there was any doubt, the opening song is "Penitentiary":

Come on down
To the Penitentiary
Oh momma the law came crashing down on me

Excellent stuff.  The other standout track is "Krampus", nicely featuring the vocals from Katie Toupin and Matt Myers.  "Houston Train" is also good, with "Oil Spill" being the weakest of the four songs.  I must not be the only one that feels that way since "Oil Spill" is the only track off "Houndmouth" that was left off their 2013 full-length LP "From The Hills Below The City" (which I haven't had a chance to get yet).  A quick search shows that they're booked on a lot of major summer festivals (Lollapalooza, Newport Folk Festival, UTOPiAfest); these guys are poised for success in the future.

Standout songs: "Penitentiary" (studio, live November 2012), "Houston Train" (live UTOPiAfest 2012, live November 2012), "Krampus" (live, live acoustic)
 
Skip 'em tracks: none.

Final score: 8/10 

Dale Watson - "Quick Quick, Slow Slow" (spotlight)

Today is the first Saturday of SXSW 2013, and it was a year ago today that I last saw Lee Dirks.  On March 10, 2012 I attended one day of SXSW  with Johan Bollen, Josh Greenberg, Margy Avery, Lee Dirks, and others.  They were on a panel about "data visualization and the future of research", which was a great success, but of course the highlight of the trip was city of Austin itself.  I won't try to explain SXSW, other than to say it's a big deal.  On the other hand, Austin is plenty of fun by itself, and the net result of SXSW for us was all ten of Austin's taxis were unavailable.

In the time leading up to SXSW, Lee acted as the social director, coordinating with everyone via email to compress a week's worth of activities into a single weekend in Austin: places to eat, drink, and of course catch some live music.  What to do on Saturday night was of course one of the main topics.  One option he put forward was:

I was thinking another road trip...down to Greune Hall (Texas' oldest continuously running dancehall) to see the Joe Ely Band.  If people like this idea, we'll want to jump on tickets now.

I replied:

Joe Ely? on a Saturday Night?!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cl1Zw3oqnkQ

to which Lee replied:

Well played on the Ely clip.  Well played, sir.
-jld

That's some pretty obscure fan boy humor, but Lee and I connected on that level.

Instead of seeing Joe Ely*, the group voted instead for catching the critically acclaimed, Austin-based, alt-country legend Dale Watson at the Broken Spoke.   Also an Austin legend, The Broken Spoke is on the outskirts of town, the kind of place that you assume only exists in movies.  Danette had been to the Broken Spoke on one of her business trips and had told me all about it.  So while I was somewhat prepared for what awaited me, the honky tonk that time forgot was an experience all its own.  The song that was playing when we walked in was "Quick Quick, Slow Slow".  I can't find which LP, if any, has this song; I don't know why that song stuck in my mind but it did, and it came to represent the entire experience for me.  We were there for maybe 2 hours, and towards the end Lee came up to me as I was standing by myself near the stage and asked with a smile "what do you think?".  I smiled and replied "it is everything I hoped it would be."

 Although we exchanged emails several times before he and his wife Judy died in an accident while vacationing in Peru in August 2012, that was the last time I saw Lee.   The tributes that followed were many and moving, with many focusing on his considerable impact and influence within the scholarly communication community.  While he and I had that connection, we always eventually steered our conversation to things like our mutual admiration of Joe Strummer and our shared frustration of how people use "bbq" as a verb and not a noun (e.g., "what you're doing is called `grilling'..."). 

I had less than 48 hours in Austin that weekend, but it was a great time largely in part due to Lee insuring we all had great places to go.  There were a lot of memories, including being Johan's "plus one" at a reception (he was insufferable after that).  Many of the folks are shown below, but I regret that I did not take any pictures that weekend -- who really thinks this will be their last opportunity to do so? 

Dale Watson - "Quick Quick, Slow Slow" --  This video is from 2009, but the point about places like The Broken Spoke is they don't change much, so this is pretty similar to the experience we had that night (although on March 10, 2012 the fiddle player was a woman).

Want more Broken Spoke?  This video describes how they make chicken fried steak.  We didn't eat there that night, but if I go back I'll make a point to. 


* It's been almost two weeks since I've mentioned The Clash, so I'll point out that Joe Ely sings back up on "Should I Stay or Should I Go?" just so I can check that box.  I'll also mention that I could make the Joe Ely reference because Scott Kinkade introduced me to the music of Jimmie Dale Gilmore ~1992, but that's a story for another time.

School of Seven Bells - "Ghostory" (LP Review)

David Byrne has a TED talk about music in context: how music is shaped by the environment in which it is intended to be experienced.  Music intended for the outdoors, dive bars, concert halls, etc. are best experienced in those environments and do not necessarily translate well into other environments.

There is more to his argument and I encourage you to read it (his blog is always engaging on a variety of topics, only a few of which are about music), but I'll use context as the motivation for this review.  Less than a year ago I was driving in my car and listening to 96.1, pretty much the only local option for alternative music on the radio, not counting specific shows on public radio like "Out of the Box".   Now keep in mind that the definition of "alternative" is contextually dependent as well.  96.1 is a pretty good station, but they have to sell commercials like everybody else and the Hampton Roads market isn't that big, so there is a definite limit to just how "alternative" things get. 

So when I heard "Lafaye" (it was either that or "Love Play") from School of Seven Bells on the car radio, it caught my attention.  I fired up my iphone app to find out who it was and made a note of it for future exploration.  "Ghostory" is the third LP from the band, but somehow I had not heard of them.  The band has an interesting story: originally Benjamin Curtis and identical twins Claudia and Alejandra Deheza, "Ghostory" is their first LP without Claudia.  I did some reading and sampled some YouTube videos, and then added the LP to my next Amazon order. 

So here's the point about context: the threshold for "cool" and "alternative" is apparently much lower in my car radio than it is in my home collection.  "Ghostory" is not a bad LP, and there really aren't any bad songs.  But what sounded so engaging while driving around town is really just a by-the-numbers imitation Cocteau Twins, albeit with productions values updated by 20+ years.  I love the Cocteau Twins (and the whole 4AD sound) but if you have some of the more accessible Cocteau Twins LPs like "Heaven or Las Vegas", you're not going to hear anything new on "Ghostory".  It's all there: ethereal vocals, otherworldly soundscapes, the dreamy soundtrack for some yet-unmade film; the notable exception is that Alejandra does not convey the joy that Elizabeth Fraser brings to the Cocteau Twins.

Somehow, reviews by Pitchfork, Drowned in Sound, and Stereogum all miss the CT/4AD similarity. To me it could not be any more obvious than if they had named the LP "Remixed Ghosts of Heaven or Las Vegas".  One of the reviews points out that "Ghostory" is a concept LP about a woman named "Lafaye" and the "ghosts" in her life... screw it, I'm already bored.

Standout songs: "Love Play", "Lafaye", "Scavenger" (live, acoustic version). 

Other songs: most are available in this YouTube playlist.

Skip 'em songs: none.

Final score: 6/10.  With a nod to David Byrne, "Innovative in Michael's Car" != "Innovative in Michael's Home".  Suitable for background listening.

Cocteau Twins Bonus links: "Heaven or Las Vegas", "Frou Frou Foxes in Midsummer Fires", "I Wear Your Ring" -- see my point?