Camera Obscura - "My Maudlin Career" (LP Review)

My fascination with Camera Obscura continues; they're still perhaps the biggest cult band that you've never heard of.  2009 saw the release of their fourth studio LP, "My Maudlin Career".  I have to confess that I was disappointed at first, especially considering how much I loved their prior LP "Let's Get Out Of This Country".  The lead single and the LP's opening song, "French Navy", might be their strongest song ever, but after that the LP treads water.  While none of the songs are bad -- some are even quite good -- it just doesn't come together as well as their prior LPs even though all the standard Camera Obscura motifs are present.

Having said that, Camera Obscura treading water is still better than most bands and after repeated listening my opinion of this LP has improved.  In prior reviews I've struggled to describe their sound with terms like "NPR indie rock" and "pop songs for adults", so I won't try further here.  Even though it might be their weakest LP to date, it should still be in your collection.

Standout songs: "French Navy" (if you listen to only one Camera Obscura song in your life, make it "French Navy"), "Sweetest Thing", "Swans", "James", "My Maudlin Career", "Honey in the Sun"

Skip 'em songs: none

Final rating: 7/10.  On a good day I'd give it an 8/10, but I sure would like at least one more song with a hook as strong as "French Navy". 

Bonus live links (incomplete, there are many more):

• French Navy: Craig Ferguson, Morning Becomes Eclectic
• The Sweetest Thing: Baebel
• Swans: Morning Becomes Eclectic, acoustic in the CO tour bus
• James: Morning Becomes Eclectic
• My Maudlin Career: The Glass House
• Honey in the Sun: Morning Becomes Eclectic

Ultravox - "Vienna" (forgotten song)

I helped Danette pick up a rental car yesterday and it had satellite radio (her favorite car feature and one we don't have on our daily drivers).  As I bounced around the stations, Ultravox's 1981 single "Vienna", the title track from their 1980 LP, came on 1st wave which is one of our favorite satellite radio stations because it features alternative 80s songs.

I have only the vaguest memory of "Vienna" from the early MTV period and I'm almost certain it did not receive radio airplay.  I can't remember the last time I heard this song -- it must have been 30+ years.  It sounds just a bit dated (sort of a synth pop version of Joy Division's "Atmosphere"), but altogether has held up surprisingly well.  I don't really know that much about Ultravox other than 1) they exist and 2) their European success never really crossed over to the US like their contemporaries such as The Furs and Modern English.

"This means nothing to me..."

Ultravox - "Vienna" (studio, live)

Queen & David Bowie - "Under Pressure" (the song remains the same)

With arguably the world's most recognizable bass line (somewhat unfortunately), the 1981 David Bowie & Queen collaboration "Under Pressure" might be my personal favorite song from Queen or David Bowie.  Although I respect both, I've never been a huge fan of either, and on this song I think the balance each other out and the result works, musically and lyrically.  Even the video was a welcome break from de rigueur lip synced, faux-concert videos of the time.

So imagine my surprise when I stumbled across this 2011 version by The Cribs, live in the studio.  To the best of my knowledge, it isn't on any of their official releases and is just a knockabout version they did for a music web site.  There is no shortage of cover versions of this song, but it does seem like a bit of a departure for The Cribs, who favor more obscure covers by cult bands like The Replacements, The Kaiser Chiefs, Comet Gain, etc.

Queen & David Bowie: "Under Pressure" (a cappella version)
The Cribs: "Under Pressure"

2020-11-01 update: Karen O and Willie Nelson have just released a beautiful duet: "Under Pressure"

Times New Viking - "Dancer Equired!" (LP Review)

Underneath all the lo-fi fuzz, Times New Viking provides surprisingly strong pop songs.  Their 2011 LP, "Dancer Equired!", is the only release of theirs I have, but apparently they experienced some backlash for it being "too polished" compared to their earlier works (for example, the Pitchfork review starts with "There were whispers that this might happen...").  Most of the reviews I've read compare their sound to Guided By Voices, but I'm only a little familiar with them.  To me, TNV are evocative of the Beat Happening / K Records sound.  Or perhaps the aural equivalent of Kevin Smith's "Clerks".

Regardless, their fuzzy & purposefully slightly out of tune sound is endearing, fun, and addictive.  On songs like "Ever Falling In Love", you ask yourself "is it polyphony or are Jared Phillips and Beth Murphy singing two completely different songs?"  I guess the former since it all works beautifully.  There are no bad moments, but the last five tracks (starting with "Don't Go to Liverpool") close out the LP in especially fine form. 

Standout songs: "It’s a Culture" (live), "Ever Falling in Love", "No Room to Live" (live), "Try Harder", "Don't Go To Liverpool" (alternate video), "Fuck Her Tears", "Want to Exist", "Somebody’s Slave", "No Good"

Skip 'em songs: none.

Final score: 9/10

Bonus links: LP Trailer from Merge Records, and a short 2012 documentary from Pitchfork called "Do Not Do It Yourself"

Wire - "On The Box: 1979" (concert)

This gem comes from Herbert who tweeted about a week ago "whatever your indie band does, [Wire] did it first".  Prior to this tweet, I wasn't really familiar with Wire -- I knew that a band of that name existed, and I have some of their stuff on remix LPs, but that's not really representative of their sound.  Apparently they've been active off and on since 1976, as well as being quite influential if not exactly popular.  Unlike some of their contemporaries (e.g., The Clash, The Jam, The Cure) I don't think they ever made it in the US onto radio, MTV, etc.  Maybe they should have been "The Wire" instead of just "Wire".

Herbert's tweet included this 1979 concert for the German TV show "Rockpalast", which Wire released in 2004 as "On The Box: 1979", a joint CD/DVD.  Despite having the standard issue awkward, subdued TV audience, this is actually quite a nice time capsule of a band I was mostly unaware of.  A track listing is available, but trust me: you probably haven't heard any of these songs.



I'm not really familiar enough with the band to rate this, so I'll just link to the Pitchfork review.

GWAR - "Phallus in Wonderland" (spotlight)

Dave Brockie, aka "Oderus Urungus", a founding member of Gwar died this week in Richmond.

What can I say about Gwar?  Other than it is possibly short for "Gwaaarrrgghhlllgh".  With Gwar, you either get the joke or you don't; Gwar is equal parts band, performance art, long-running (~30 years) inside-joke, and social commentary.  It's like they combined KISS, Gallagher, This Is Spinal Tap, grindhouse, and He-Man and the Masters of The Universe and decided "that's a good start, but what would happen if we took it to 11?" 

Terry first introduced me to Gwar.  He was pretty plugged into the VA music scene during the 90s and I'm pretty sure he's visited Gwar's headquarters, The Slave Pit, in Richmond where they made their costumes, filmed their videos, held GWAR-B-Qs, etc.  I was always simultaneously proud that something as odd as Gwar would come from VA, and sad that VA is such a religiously conformist environment that it would effectively create a backlash like Gwar.

IIRC, Terry told me that Gwar was advanced a small amount of $ to make a music video but instead they made an hour long movie.  That would be 1992's "Phallus in Wonderland", which is now out of print and Terry's copy is probably worth a good bit. The plot: the "Morality Squad" steals Oderus's "Cuttlefish of Cthulu" and Gwar creates the T-Rex "Gor-Gor" to get it back.  I'd say it makes sense in context but, again, you either get the joke or you don't:



I never saw Gwar live, although we occasionally had a chance when they played at the Norva.  I hope they continue, but the future of Gwar is still up in the air.  They play in costume, but knowing that Dave Brockie isn't there would somehow lessen the experience. 

Don't have time for the full movie?  At the 21 minute mark is "Have you seen me?", their "tribute" to missing children on milk cartons.  If you can make it through that, you'll enjoy the rest of their canon.

Mission of Burma - "Signals, Calls, and Marches" (LP Review)

For my 200th post on F-Measure, I'm covering something simultaneously new, old, and timeless.  One of the pleasant finds from my recent reading of "Our Band Could Be Your Life" was Boston's Mission of Burma.  I have a vague memory of Terry talking about them while we were in college, and I knew a band by that name existed, but I don't remember actually listening to them at the time.  Part of the problem is they essentially broke up in 1983 after two landmark releases, a result of guitarist Roger Miller's tinnitus.  They reformed in 2002, but had largely missed out on the scene they so heavily influenced.  In doing so, they nicely illustrate the difference between "popular" and "influential".  Example: Pearl Jam's 1993's LP "Vs." is named in honor to Mission of Burma's 1982 LP "Vs.". 

As influential as "Vs." was, my personal favorite is their 1981 debut EP "Signals, Calls, and Marches".  Keep in mind that I discovered it some 30 years after its debut, but it still sounds fresh and relevant today.  It occupies the transitional space between early 80s "punk" and "college alternative" in a way that contemporaries like Sonic Youth, Dead Kennedys, Minor Threat, Black Flag, and other candidates simply don't.  Part of it is their strong song writing (with hooks!), without compromising their heaviness and anger, and intelligent lyrics.  Another dimension is member Martin Swope, credited as "tape manipulator/sound engineer", who used techniques you'd associate more with early 70s Pink Floyd to add a rich but subtle extra dimension to an otherwise sparse, angular punk sound.

So while this is over 30 years old, I just "discovered" it within the last year.   Give it a listen: it will sound both new and familiar.

Standout songs: "That's When I Reach For My Revolver", "Fame and Fortune", "This Is Not a Photograph", "All World Cowboy Romance", "Academy Fight Song"

Skip 'em songs: none.

Final Score: 9/10 

Bonus link: the entire, original six song EP

Bonus links to covers: Moby - "That's When I Reach For My Revolver", R.E.M. - "Academy Fight Song".  While: 1) I have much respect for both Moby and R.E.M., and 2) I love covers... -- let's just say these versions underscore how good the originals are.

Note: my copy of the CD is the 1997 Ryko re-release which adds their 1980 7" single "Academy Fight Song" to the end of the original EP, so that's what I review here.