Liz Phair - Live 2021-06-23 (concert)

Is it still a "Tiny Desk" concert if it's held on a quite large remote stage?  

Liz Phair, promoting her most recent LP "Soberish", appeared last month on NPR's Tiny Desk Concert series. Because of the pandemic, they're calling them "home" concerts and leaving it to artists to choose their own venue.  Liz apparently chose something slightly larger than the typical intimate, closed quarters that artists chose.

More importantly, she's got new material for the first time in 11 years.  The first three songs, "Spanish Doors", "In There", and "The Game" are from "Soberish" and it's quite good -- certainly an improvement over 2003's "Liz Phair" and 2005's "Somebodys' Miracle".  I don't have "Soberish" yet, but it's planned for my next bulk music purchase.  The four song set closes with a good version of "Never Said" from her 1993 debut LP. 

Be sure to also check out the advance singles from her new LP: "Spanish Doors", "The Game", "Hey Lou", and "In There".  

Liz will be at the Va Beach Amphitheater next month.  Our friend Michele is planning on going, but we'll probably sit this one out.  First, we're still a bit covid-hesitant, and second she's opening for Alanis Morissette and Garbage.  Nothing really against either of them, but... well, let's just say both should be opening for Liz.  

Also a preview: some day I'm going to get around to presenting my argument that now, in the 21st century, "Whip Smart" is actually a better LP to listen to than "Exile in Guyville".

Finally, although April is long gone, I'm retroactively claiming this is a Women's History Month post.

Yoko Ono - "Listen the Snow is Falling" (the song remains the same)

In my final installment for Women's History Month 2020*, I'll conclude with Yoko Ono's "Listen the Snow is Falling".  I have limited knowledge of Ono's discography, as well as Lennon's non-Beatles discography, and how they intersect and overlap, but it appears that "Listen the Snow is Falling" was first released as a B-side to the Plastic Ono Band's 1971 single "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)", and then later as bonus tracks on re-releases of 1969's "Wedding Album".

My introduction to this song is from Galaxie 500's 1990 final studio LP "This Is Our Music", and bassist and occasional lead vocalist Naomi Yang turns in an understated but powerful cover; one of the LP's highlights to be honest.  Galaxie 500 made incredible, genre-defining music but part of their appeal to me was their impeccable taste in choosing cover songs (see also: the posthumously released "Peel Sessions" LP).  Thanks to Galaxie 500 for choosing this obscure but delightful B-side, almost 20 years after its release, and thereby furthering my education.

Yoko Ono - "Listen the Snow is Falling"
Galaxie 500 - "Listen the Snow is Falling"

* This post was begun in March, but events delayed it until April.  

Liz Phair - Live 2003-08-09 (concert)

For another installment in Women's History Month, I turn to Liz Phair, one of my favorite artists.  I've been meaning to get to her landmark LPs "Exile in Guyville" and "Whip-smart", but that's going to have to wait as well.  Also, as a preview, her 2010 LP "Funstyle" was pretty good too. She's scheduled to be in Va Beach this summer, but we'll see if coronavirus has other ideas (update: they're being rescheduled).  We saw her in 2011 when she was at the Norva and it was a great show (I found this version of "Nashville" from that show -- not my video).

Last week I also finished reading her memoir "Horror Stories" (reviews: NPR, NYT, Pitchfork, CBS This Morning).  When I saw that she was releasing a book I added it to my Christmas wish list and was happy to receive a copy.  I had not read that much about it before I started it -- I knew it was about Liz Phair, and that was all I needed to know.   As a result, I was rather surprised to learn that the choice of title was not arbitrary -- her collections of stories are more about personal loss, conflict, and "horror" than the Liz Phair-meets-Spinal Tap rock & roll war stories I expected (the chapter "sotto voce" being a notable exception).  I read the first three chapters in one sitting and decided it wasn't the soothing "escape-from-coronavirus" experience I was looking for, but I recalibrated my expectations and enjoyed the rest of the book.

I eventually determined that the stories reminded me of Ray Bradbury's "Dandelion Wine", one of my favorite books.  Even in Bradbury's childhood nostalgia, there is a fantastical and dark spectre (e.g., the "Lonely One") that hangs over the stories, and I connected that to the "horror" which glues Phair's stories together.  I posted this observation on Twitter and got a reply back from Liz, which made my day as well as making me the envy of Danette and my "cool" friends.

High praise indeed! Thank you 🙏

— Liz Phair (@PhizLair) March 24, 2020

To celebrate the book as well as Women's History Month, I decided to post about this lovely video I found on YouTube.  There are many Liz Phair videos online, but the lo-fi intimacy of this set (13 songs, limited instrumentation) shot in a record store some 17 years ago seemed to capture the spirit of "Horror Stories" better than a professionally shot video.  The video doesn't provide a set list, but it's:

• 6'1"
• Polyester Bride
• Rock Me
• Divorce Song
• Extraordinary
• Fuck and Run
• Perfect World
• Johnny Feelgood
• (a small segment of Patrick Park's "Thunderbolt")
• Why Can't I?
• Uncle Alvarez
• Glory
• Little Digger
• Supernova

 

Apparently this is the only photo I took from the 2011-01-27 show at the Norva in Norfolk.  It was a great show.

I'm not a great photographer.

Yo La Tengo - Yellow Sarong (the song remains the same)

photo credit

Continuing with the previous theme of Yo La Tengo and Women's History Month, today I'll focus on one Yo La Tengo's great cover songs: "Yellow Sarong", originally by The Scene Is Now.  My first experience with the song was Yo La Tengo's 1990 LP of covers, "Facebook".  The original version was from The Scene Is Now's 1985 LP "Burn All Your Records".  I prefer the YLT version over TSIN version: that could be because I heard YLT's first, but I also just love YLT and how they remake all the covers in their own idiom.

When Johan and I were practicing for our DJ premiere (ca. 2003), I always tried to find a way to work this song into the set list.  It never worked with what we were shooting for (Thievery Corporation-style, downtempo, coffeehouse jazz), but I kept trying because the song is that much fun.

The live 2015 version on soundcloud (from acidjacknyc) features a good shot of Georgia Hubley, so I chose that as the main image for this post.  I don't know that much about The Scene Is Now, but they do have a female member as well (Sue Garner), so much like my work with Johan, I'm going to shoehorn "Yellow Sarong" into Women's History Month, whether it fits or not, because the song is that much fun...

The Scene Is Now - "Yellow Sarong"
Yo La Tengo - "Yellow Sarong" (studio version), live 2015-10-10, live 2016-09-09

Julee Cruise - "Industrial Symphony No. 1" (concert)

Continuing for Women's History Month, we return to Julee Cruise, one of my college-era favorites.  I already reviewed "Floating Into the Night" many years ago and while I should eventually cover her other LPs, I wanted to revisit her first LP by highlighting an even rarer entry in her catalog.  "Industrial Symphony No. 1" is concert/play and a continuation of David Lynch's work with Angelo Badalamenti and Julee Cruise.  It begins with Nicolas Cage and Laura Dern effectively reprising their roles from Wild at Heart, and then enters a dream sequence featuring songs and characters from Twin Peaks where Cruise lip syncs to studio versions of her songs.  The opening song, "Up in Flames", would be released on her 1993 LP "The Voice of Love", but otherwise "I Float Alone", "Into the Night", "Rockin' Back Inside My Heart", and "The World Spins" all appear on her 1989 debut "Floating Into the Night".  There are additional interstitial instrumental tracks that as far as I know only appear here.

I love Julee Cruise, and her work with Badalamenti and Lynch is amazing, but unfortunately their collective output is pretty limited.  So if you're a fan, you'll want to watch this video.  If you're not a fan, I'm not sure it will make you a fan.  For me, "Industrial Symphony No. 1" is simultaneously engaging and indistinguishable from a parody of an art film: smoke, strobe lights, a half-naked woman furtively scurrying about the stage, Cruise singing from the trunk of a car, Michael J. Anderson sawing on a log and then doing spoken word, a person on stilts, and for most of the time at least one cast member in the air.

I don't actually have a copy of "Industrial Symphony No. 1", but Terry had a VHS copy (2020-10-18 edit: turns out I have a copy).  Since I'm a completist I'll eventually get a copy and probably pay too much, but Julee Cruise is a treasure and we should celebrate her entire canon.

Tammy Wynette - "Stand By Your Man" (the song remains the same)

A special topical Women's History Month installment: Kellyanne Conway standing by her man.  Perhaps more accurately, standing by her other man.

"Stand by your man" is the single (released in 1968) from Tammy Wynette's 1969 LP of the same name.  What can I say about this universally recognized song that hasn't already been said?  I'll just point out that in 2010 the Library of Congress selected it for preservation because it is "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".  Obviously, that's the highest honor I can think of...

There are more covers of this song than I could possibly address, so I'll choose just one: the 1982 duet by Lemmy and Wendy O. Williams. 

Tammy Wynette - "Stand by your man"
Plasmatics & Motorhead - "Stand by your man"

Sometimes it's hard to be a woman
giving all your love to just one man.
You'll have bad times
And he'll have good times,
Doin' things that you don't understand.

 Right, Kellyanne?

Waxahatchee - Live in Berlin 2015-03-22 (concert)

Continuing with Women's History Month, I'd like to feature this nice four song set from Waxahatchee.  Why?  1) Katie Crutchfield is awesome, and 2) this takes place in the Ramones Museum in Berlin -- who knew there was a Ramones Museum in Berlin?!

I need to get around to reviewing "Ivy Tripp" and "Out in the Storm", but in the mean time this set features "Grass Stain" and "Swan Dive", which are easily in my top 10 favorite songs of hers. 

Fiona Apple - "Across the Universe" (the song remains the same)

For the second installment for Women's History Month, Danette recommended that I review one of her favorites, Fiona Apple's debut LP "Tidal".  I'm not familiar enough with that LP to give it a proper review, so instead I offer Apple's 1998 cover of The Beatles' "Across the Universe". 

It appears as a bonus track on her second LP, "When the Pawn...", but I think it first appeared on the soundtrack for "Pleasantville".  I recall seeing the film with Danette at the Commodore Theatre in Portsmouth, and the "pleasant" surprise of her cover during the closing credits. 

"Across the Universe" is one of my favorite songs and if the Beatles's version is fantastical, then Apple turns in a sounds-like-3am version.

Fiona Apple - "Across the Universe"
The Beatles - "Across the Universe"

The Head and the Heart - "The Head and the Heart" (LP Review)

SXSW is underway, and at this time of the year I always think about Lee Dirks and my trip there in 2012.  Lee and I always talked music, and one the recommendations he gave me at SXSW and repeated in email was about Seattle-based The Head and the Heart:

... They burst on the scene in 2010 and then full-on exploded in 2011.  If you listen to their stuff, I think you'll definitely pick-up the multiple style similarities.  Their album is awesome - well worth picking up.  I'm clearly biased towards them as I saw them in small clubs here long before they blew up...and I told friends to watch out for them, as I *knew* they were going to blow up.   I'd like to think I had some great sense or insight here, but it was pretty obvious they were head and shoulders above the other local bands on the scene.   Check them out...

Based on his recommendations, I picked up their 2011 self-titled debut LP.  Official reviews are mixed, for example the Pitchfork review is rather unforgiving ("Conceptually, they're close to Mumford & Sons: opportunistic in their borrowings, yet entirely unimaginative in the execution. Theirs is a thoroughly timid, tentative take on Americana: roots music without the roots.").  My assessment of the LP is more in line with Lee's than Pitchfork's: I find the execution inspired and grounded.

I'm also choosing this LP to kick-off Women's History Month.  The band had six members for their fist LP, and while I don't wish to minimize the contributions of the other five members, the secret weapon here is violinist and vocalist Charity Rose Thielen.  They have three primary singers (and other other three sing backup), but my enjoyment of their songs is directly proportional to how much she is a featured vocalist.  The LP starts off mildly, but the last half closes strongly, and Charity is a big part of why. 

Standout songs: River and Roads (exemplary live version), Honey Come Home (live KEXP), Lost in My Mind, Winter Song (live version), Sounds Like Hallelujah, Heaven Go Easy On Me (live version).

Skip 'em songs: none

Final score: 8/10.  Thanks Lee for turning me on to these guys.



Bonus connection: Dog-n-Burger, a local dining institution, is closing next week after 50 years in the same spot.  DnB reminds me of various BBQ places Lee took us in Austin, and the Redwood Smoke Shack that will replace it is a Texas-style BBQ place.  They're thinking about adding live music, so maybe we can catch the next up-and-coming indie-folk band there. 

Sonic Youth - "Kool Thing" (forgotten song)

I realized recently that so far my discussion of Kim Gordon and Sonic Youth here were mostly in the context of the Kim / Thurston split ("Diamond Sea", "Girl in a Band").  Women's History Month is a good excuse to fix that and to remind everyone why Kim is the Lemmy of alt/college rock.

I certainly knew about Sonic Youth prior to "Goo", their 1990 major label release, but just through coincidence of timing this was the first LP of theirs that I bought and really embraced.  "Kool Thing" was the first single off the LP and is certainly more accessible than their previous work.  At the time I enjoyed it as a great song, but it wasn't until much later that I learned the back story that it is about a 1989 article in Spin Magazine where Kim interviewed LL Cool J and the resulting cultural chasm between them, part of which is attributable to not finding space for feminism in the machismo of LL's style of hip-hop (e.g., "The guy has to have control over his woman").

Of course, the video and song are filled with many clever LL "Kool" J references (e.g., "walking like a panther", "I don't think so", "let me play with your radio"), and even briefly features Chuck D  (I always felt he was significantly underutilized in this song, but to be fair the story goes theirs was an unplanned, serendipitous collaboration resulting from Public Enemy being in a nearby studio).

Enough about the back story -- there's a good "official" video and many live versions available, but this 1993 live version is a good reminder of when and why Kim (and Thurston) were the queen (and king) of the scene...

"Fear of a female planet"
Sonic Youth - "Kool Thing": live 1993, official video

LL Cool J - "Going Back to Cali" (from which the official "Kool Thing" video borrows)

Joan Jett - "Bad Reputation" (forgotten song)

In my previous post I mentioned Pat Benatar being the most prominent female AOR rock stars of the late 70s / early 80s, and while that's probably true, I would be remiss to not mention Joan Jett as well.  Her big breakthrough came in 1982 with the single "I love Rock-n-Roll", from the LP of the same name.  Despite a lengthy and successful career, that song is still probably her most popular.   And while I can't say I dislike it, I never really liked it that much either.  I get the whole feminist reclamation of a cock rock song (the original version was released in 1976 by Arrows, and it's kinda stupid*, even for a boom-boom-chop song), but I can't get past "meh". 

The song that should be her most popular is her auto-biographical, pop-punk anthem "Bad Reputation".  The story behind this song and video is a little bit complicated: she released a self-funded, self-titled LP in 1980.  In 1981, the same LP was reissued by Boardwalk Records, but this time the title was changed to "Bad Reputation", with the same cover art and only mild reshuffling of tracks.  The song "Bad Reputation" was first the b-side to the "Jezebel" single from the LP "Joan Jett", and then it was later released as an a-side single from "Bad Reputation".

After the success of "I Love Rock-n-Roll", she made a video for "Bad Reputation" in 1982 and the subject of the video is her ultimate triumph over the record labels that had nothing to do with her first LP, due in part because of her "bad reputation" as a former member of the Runaways.  I remember Bill Glidden had both "Bad Reputation" and "I Love Rock-n-Roll", and presumably I still have a copy of both on a cassette somewhere.

Anyway, much respect for Joan Jett and her setting the template for riot grrrls to follow.  She did not  soften her sound like Pat Benatar, nor did she tart it up like fellow former-Runaway Lita Ford, instead opting for a timeless "Joan Ramone" look.  For someone that made her career on smart choices for cover songs, this original should be the canonical Joan Jett song -- it's still awesome some 37+ years later...

Joan Jett - "Bad Reputation"




* Perhaps I can't get over its self-referential nature; I harbor a special distaste for rock-n-roll songs that are "about" rock-n-roll, but that's a topic for another time...

Pat Benatar - "Precious Time" (forgotten song)

For my next post in recognition of Women's History Month, let's go back to 1981 and the title track from Pat Benatar's third LP, "Precious Time".  It was not released as a single and as such, I don't recall it getting radio airplay at the time.  But it did have a video that was played on MTV a good bit at the time, and at 5:29 for the video (6:03 on the LP) it might have been a bit too long for a typical radio single.

I always liked Pat Benatar, but she was particularly important for Danette while growing up.  Pat Benatar certainly wasn't the first female rocker but she arguably was the most prominent in the US during the late 70s / early 80s, and as such served as a role model for Danette in an otherwise male-dominated genre.  Unfortunately, this is the last Pat Benatar LP that rawks...  starting in 1982 she married her guitarist, Neil Giraldo, swapped her second guitarist for a keyboardist, and shortly afterwards started a family; the sum total of which might have been good for her personally but it took a toll on her music.  I liked a lot of her songs that followed, but they no longer rawked.

We saw Pat Benatar at the NorVa (was it really 10 years ago?) and she gave a great show, and we'd definitely see her again if given the chance.  In the meantime, enjoy the slow heaviness of "Precious Time", the last heavy song she released before happiness, children, and keyboards arrived at the Benatar / Giraldo household.

Pat Benatar - "Precious Time"

False Sacrament - "That One" (forgotten song)

For reasons I can't quite remember earlier this week I started thinking about False Sacrament, a local band from the late 80s -- early 90s.  Perhaps it was because my previous review was about jazz fusionist Allan Holdsworth giving a slight nod to metal, and you could say that False Sacrament was a metal band giving a hat tip to jazz.  There's not a lot of information about them online, but after texting with Gregg, Scott, Terry and others, plus some Internet sleuthing, I was able to piece together a little bit of history about this band.

They featured Wendy Niles on vocals & clarinet (!), Danny Frazier on drums, Steve DiFazio on bass (who Gregg says he's still in contact with), and Thel Dominici on guitar.  Wendy, Danny, and Steve were all from Denbigh High School, class of 88 (none of whom I knew, but see my previous post on Tone Deaf and other DHS alumni), and Thel went to high school in Va Beach.  I thought I saw False Sacrament at the Denbigh Jam, but Terry assures me that never happened.  I did see them with Terry at in Norfolk, ca. 1990 or 1991, and it was probably at the (in)famous and now defunct Kings Head Inn but I'm not 100% sure about the location.  Some time around 1992 False Sacrament had moved out to San Francisco to further their career, though they toured all over.  One of the places they toured was Terry's house on Old South High at JMU (previously mentioned in my House of Freaks post), as evidenced by this cool concert flyer that I lifted from Terry's page (and his Corn Rocket video might be from the same show; Terry says Thel went to HS with the guitarist from Corn Rocket).

Why am I featuring their song "That One"?  Well, I found a video of them playing that song (or at least I'm pretty sure that's the song) at what looks to be a record store in California on 1992-07-26 (the source of the screen grab at the top).  I could only find one more concert video from them (at "Photon" in Va Beach from 90 or 91, where I'm sure I played laser tag but I don't recall seeing bands there), but the quality of that video is not great.  Audience/amateur recordings from ~30 years ago are rare (video recorders were $$$), so we're lucky to have the two we have...

Terry says he has their split 10" EP with Schlong, and Scott said he received their 1991 demo tape for his radio show at Elon.  The demo tape in particular holds up well -- heavy, intricate, challenging... and clearly not commercially viable.  Unfortunately, False Sacrament sounds nothing like the Seattle Sound that was about to steamroll the alternative music scene.  If forced to make a reference, maybe a funk-less 24-7 Spyz?  To which you say "who?" and I say "exactly." Or perhaps pre-Rollins Black Flag. 

On the two live recordings, Wendy isn't playing clarinet but you'll find it in the demo tape and other studio materials.  And since Wendy and her clarinet were a big part of their sound, I'm using this post to kick off Women's History Month, where I feature artists / bands with females in prominent roles.

That's the best I can do to reconstruct the history of False Sacrament.  Thanks to Terry, Scott, and Gregg for helping me pull this together, and if anyone else can help fill in the blanks please let me know.

False Sacrament - "That One" (live 1992-07-26), "Cosmic Enchantment" (90/91), 1991 Demo Tape, 10" Split EP,  "Paradigm" 7".  The only entry in discogs that I could not find was their 1993 self-titled LP.


Bonus link: I found the video "Baby Farm - False Sacrament Party 1991", but as far as I can tell it only features Baby Farm (another Hampton Roads band from the same time frame). 

The Pretenders - "Tattooed Love Boys" (forgotten song)

For my final installment for Women's History Month, I'm focusing on a song whose video got a fair amount of play in the early days of MTV (the 196th video they played), but I don't recall ever hearing it on the radio.  Even though it had its own video, "Tattooed Love Boys" was the B-side to The Pretenders' 1979 single "Kid", from their eponymous LP. 

"Tattooed Love Boys" is a fast-paced, gritty song with an unconventional structure (i.e., no real chorus).  In 1981 I didn't know what all the lyrics were or exactly what the song was about, but the song (and Chrissie) had my full attention. 

Fast forward some 36 (!) years and I'm reading Chrissie's autobiography "Reckless", only to discover that the lyric "Stop snivellin' / You're gonna make some plastic surgeon a rich man" derives from "Shut up, or you’re going to make some plastic surgeon rich!", which was said to her while she was being gang-raped by bikers.  Chrissie faced significant backlash for this story and taking responsibility for the situation by acknowledging that she knowingly put herself into dangerous situations.

While I enjoyed reading "Reckless", Chrissie's detatched and obfuscated story-telling style made for a difficult read in which she recounts a lot and reveals little.   More importantly, I was aghast to learn that "Tattooed Love Boys", which had an outsized impact on my pre-teen sexuality, was based on a rape.  If I can't unread the book, can I least unread this chapter?

The Pretenders - "Tattooed Love Boys"

Bonus link:  The Pretenders - "Kid"

Hope Sandoval and the Warm Inventions - "Suzanne" (LP Review)

Time for another (belated) installment for Women's History Month.  I'm a huge fan of Mazzy Star, and while they had never officially broken up, their long hiatus between LPs (1996--2013) rivaled only My Bloody Valentine (1991-2013) in the alt-rock world.  So it only makes sense that in the interim Hope Sandoval (Mazzy Star) and Colm Ó Cíosóig (My Bloody Valentine) came together and created Hope Sandoval and the Warm Inventions.  And while technically it's a band, make no mistake this band is really about Hope Sandoval.  "Suzanne" is a four song EP released in 2002, it's also the third and final single from the 2001 LP "Bavarian Fruit Bread".  Although it came out after the 2001 LP, this EP was my first introduction to Hope's post-Mazzy Star work, so I'm writing about it first here.

Hope Sandoval and the Warm Inventions sound a lot like Mazzy Star: if you like one, given Hope's distinctive voice, you'll like them both.  Even though both bands mine the dream-pop vein, David Roback (the other half of Mazzy Star), drawing from the Paisley Underground sound,  often writes material that borrows heavily from The Doors (e.g., "Mary of Silence", "She Hangs Brightly") or is very bluesy (e.g., "She's My Baby", "I'm Sailin'").  I won't say I dislike those songs... but I appreciate the more straight-forward dream-pop sound of HS&TWI.  I like David, and he's definitely one-half of Mazzy Star and its sound, but I like Hope more and she's 90% of the sound of HS&TWI.  Of course now you don't really need to choose, since Colm is now also the drummer for Mazzy Star, as well as Suki Ewers playing keyboards for both bands as well.

I should review their proper LPs, but until then enjoy this EP as your introduction to HS&TWI.

Standout songs: "Suzanne", "I Thought You'd Fall for Me", "Friends of a Smile"

Skip 'em songs: none.

Final score: 8/10

Swearin' - "Surfing Strange" (LP Review)

I've already blogged extensively about Waxahatchee, AKA Katie Crutchfield.  Here I will cover her twin sister, Allison Crutchfield, in another installment for Women's History Month.  As documented extensively elsewhere, Allison and Katie lead the punk band P.S. Eliot from 2007-2011, eventually splitting and forming Swearin' and Waxahatchee, respectively.  Although technically separate bands, soon Allison and other members of Swearin' were backing Katie, both in the studio and on tour.  As of 2015, Swearin' is defunct.

When I first learned of Swearin', I was super excited and ordered their 2013 LP "Surfing Strange".  The video for the single from the LP, "Dust in the Gold Sack", was great and I was hoping for an LP as strong as "American Weekend" or "Cerulean Salt".  Unfortunately, while it's not a bad LP, it's not nearly as great as Katie's first two LPs.  The problem?  Too much Kyle Gilbride & Keith Spencer, and not enough Allison.  I totally respect their DIY "if you write it, you sing it" approach, but Kyle & Keith singing (and writing) aren't why I bought this LP. 

Again, this is not a bad LP, and there aren't really any bad songs.  But ultimately it's just "Dust in the Gold Sack" and a few others, making this is a good, but not necessary, LP.    

Standout songs: "Dust in the Gold Sack" (live 2013), "Mermaid" (live 2013), "Parts of Speech", "Unwanted Place"

Skip 'em songs: none.

Final score: 6/10



P.S. (Eliot): Fortunately, Allison has since gone solo. 

2018-03-05 update: I spoke too soon, 3/4 of Swearin' are back together.

Angel Olsen - "My Woman" (LP Review)

In my second installment for Women's History Month, I take a look at one of the better results for 2016 -- a year that was pretty bad for music in general.  In the Now Playing Facebook Group, I took note of a parade of posts extolling Angel Olsen's third LP, "My Woman".  Eventually I had to investigate and I was not disappointed: this really is a candidate for LP of the year.

I worked my way backward through her catalog: 2014's "Burn Your Fire for No Witness" and 2012's "Halfway Home", and while those are good LPs they don't foreshadow the level of accomplishment and mastery she displays on "My Woman".  Pitchfork gives an eloquent review, complete with references to Dolly, Loretta, Patti, and Cat Power.  Sure, no pressure there.  They should throw in a good bit of Mazzy Star as well. The New Yorker has a similarly effusive review, evoking Julee Cruise (via David Lynch) and Fleetwood Mac.

But Angel does move confidently and effortlessly from genre to genre, from the abstract synth of "Intern", to the garage-rock of "Shut Up Kiss Me", to the epic, slow burn of "Sister", and many others.  There are no bad songs on this LP, and you owe it to yourself to see what all the buzz is about*.

Standout songs: "Intern", "Never Be Mine", "Shut Up Kiss Me" (live on the Late Show, 2016-08-29; the backup singer takes this to 11**),  "Give It Up", "Not Gonna Kill You",  "Sister", "Those Were the Days", "Woman" (live, 2016-10-30?)

Skip 'em songs: none.

Final score: 9/10

Bonus link: "Intern / Woman" (live 2017-02-23)

* For the record: while Danette doesn't dislike the LP, she doesn't "get it".

** 2017-12-27 update: I just realized that "the backup singer" is Heather McEntire, of Mount Moriah. No wonder I liked her so much.  

Mount Moriah - "Mount Moriah" (LP Review)

In recognition of Women's History Month I'll be reviewing as many female artists (or at least bands with prominent female members) as I can get to. 

I've been meaning to review Chapel Hill's Mount Moriah for a while now.  Butch first turned me on to them a couple of years ago and they've been working their way in my play list for some time.  The most concise way to describe them is young Dolly Parton meets Crazy Horse / Stray Gators.  I realize everyone makes that comparison, but listen to "Plane" and "Words (Between the Lines of Age)" and tell me I'm wrong. 

In a review of their most recent LP, Evan Rytlewski said "Mount Moriah no longer sound like an indie band playing country music".  That's a fair description of their 2011 debut LP, and to be honest that's what I like about it.  Heather McEntire's powerful, haunting voice dominates the band, just edging out Jenks Miller's country/metal guitar sound (see my previous review of Jenks' drone metal band, Horseback).  The LP "Mount Moriah" is definitely alt-country with an emphasis on "alt", and also is evidence for the "everyone-in-the-south-likes-at-least-a-little-country" phenomenon Margo Timmins described in the 80s (see my review of "The Trinity Session" for the full quote).  You also have to acknowledge their debt to the Indigo Girls, in attitude if not entirely in sound (although I've been to at least one Indigo Girls show where their sound had more in common with Horseback than you might expect -- Joy tells me that's Amy's influence).

Pitchfork gave this LP a good review when it came out, although the CoS review is less favorable.  I think Pitchfork got it right: there are no bad songs on this LP and the best songs on the LP are extraordinary.

Standout songs: "Only Way Out" (live version), "Plane" (live version), "Lament" (live version), "Reckoning" (live version)

Skip 'em songs: none.

Final score: 8/10